The Chuck Cowdery Blog

Bike The Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

2012-01-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) and the Bluegrass Cycling Club have teamed up to provide back-road bike routes for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour. The routes are designed to take you through the rolling hills and scenic countryside of Central Kentucky on your way to visit six historic distilleries.

Maps and cue sheets can be found at the Kentucky Bourbon Trail web site under the Map and Guide tab. Links to the maps are also posted on the Bluegrass Cycling Club web site.

“We’ve been surprised at the growing number of requests for bicycling routes,” said Eric Gregory, KDA President. “So we turned to the experts who know the rural roads and who know the roads that work best for bicyclists.”

The various route options provide experienced cyclists with a unique ride opportunity unavailable anyplace else in the world. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour features six distilleries, each offering a unique educational experience. They are: Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve.

You’ll have to figure these routes out on your own, but can also bike to Buffalo Trace Distillery and Barton 1792 Distillery, even though their parent company, Sazerac, isn’t a KDA member.

Journeyman Distillery Added To Feb. 8 Lineup.

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

Michigan's Journeyman Distillery has been added to the lineup for 'Meet Your Chicago Distillers Night' at Jerry's Sandwiches on February 8, starting at 7 PM. Jerry's is in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood at 1938 W. Division.

The other featured distilleries are Koval, Few Spirits, and North Shore Distillery. A surprise guest DJ has been added "to carry the party on into the night." Admission is still $10.

For more info go here and here.

Mistruth In Alcoholic Beverage Marketing.

2012-01-26T05:00:00.004-06:00

Mistruth, if it’s even a word, is an interesting one.

You won’t find it at Merriam-Webster Online. It’s not in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) either. MS Word is okay with it but Blogger's spell checker is not.

Scrabblefinder and similar sources say it is a legitimate Scrabble word, but they don’t provide a definition for it.Lexic.us defines it as “a lie” and offers examples of its use dating back to 1823. Wiktionary defines it as “untruth, falsehood.” You can find many examples of its use and, from context, that is how most writers seem to mean it, as synonymous with lie.

Only Urban Dictionary defines it differently, as “a statement that is true yet misleading.” They give as an example of its use, “Our web site is dedicated to dispel the mistruths propagated in their campaign.” That’s a pretty lousy sentence and it could easily be taken either way.

Still, we need a word like mistruth, the way Urban Dictionary defines it. Statements that are technically true but misleading are mainstays of political rhetoric and all forms of marketing, for whiskey and pretty much everything else. Marketers can be punished for untruths but mistruths (again, as Urban Dictionary defines them) get a lot more slack.

Advertising regulation in the USA, such as it is, is done nationally by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As a practical matter, someone has to complain before the FTC will investigate and act. The law says advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive; advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and advertisements cannot be unfair.

Usually it is competitors who bring the complaints.

Advertisers do not have to submit their advertising for review and approval. Enforcement is strictly after-the-fact. FTC actions usually result in the marketer voluntarily changing the offending message. The FTC can impose penalties if marketers refuse to abide by its findings.

The FTC is very lax about enforcing its own rules. One of the best examples is the word ‘free.’ It is supposed to mean “devoid of cost or obligation,” but you constantly see it used (with impunity) to mean “included at no extra cost with purchase.”

When this column takes a whiskey producer to task it’s usually over a mistruth, not a clear untruth. Whiskey marketers usually won’t lie outright, but they can be misleading as hell. Everybody does it, large and small, distillers and non-distiller producers.

Alcoholic beverage marketers have to clear a higher hurdle than most marketers. They have to submit all product labels for approval by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which is part of the Treasury Department. The ‘label’ is everything attached to or printed on the container (i.e., bottle, can, wine box). Alcoholic beverage marketers do not have to submit other marketing materials for approval, such as advertising, just the labels.

Alcoholic beverage marketers, both large and small, complain that TTB is inconsistent, even capricious. The big guys usually have the resources to work the system until they get a favorable outcome. The little guys usually don’t.

It would be a shame if TTB’s reputation declines to a point where people can’t trust the labels. That will be a victory for mistruth.

U.S. Defines TN Whiskey Through Back Door.

2012-01-24T05:00:00.015-06:00

This information came via comments posted on an old thread, here. Go there if you want to get deep into some American whiskey esoterica.

It's about to get geeky over here too.

Most striking is a statement contained in Canada's Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870), which define different kinds of alcoholic beverages, in this case Tennessee whiskey.

"Tennessee whisky...is a straight Bourbon whisky produced in the State of Tennessee and manufactured in the United States as Tennessee whisky in accordance with the laws of the United States applicable in respect of Tennessee whisky for consumption in the United States."

That's a mouthful and, legally, it only applies within Canada, but it's interesting because it codifies the definition of Tennessee whiskey, something the United States Treasury Department's Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has never done.

TTB is keeper of the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, which is the law of the land in terms of how distilled spirits are defined in the USA.

Note that the Canadian regulation does not define Tennessee whiskey as "straight bourbon whiskey that has been filtered through charcoal prior to barrel entry," which is what makes Tennessee whiskey unique according to the makers of Jack Daniel's.

Brown-Forman's Jack Daniel's and Diageo's George Dickel are the only Tennessee whiskeys, except for some emerging micros, but Jack is the best-selling American whiskey in the world and George is no slouch either.

The background for this is that the United States has trade agreements with various countries, such as Canada and Mexico, and entities such as the European Union, to recognize certain distinctive national products. In the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for example, we recognize Canadian whisky and Tequila as distinctive products of Canada and Mexico, respectively, and they recognize bourbon whiskey and Tennessee whiskey as distinctive products of the United States.

NAFTA's wording is similar to the Canadian rule: "Tennessee Whiskey...is a straight Bourbon Whiskey authorized to be produced only in the State of Tennessee."

So even though TTB has never defined Tennessee whiskey, the U.S. government has, albeit indirectly, which should help you shut up a few know-it-alls and maybe win a bar bet or two.

It's also potentially significant for the micro-distilleries in Tennessee who want to make Tennessee whiskey because it puts them on notice that, contrary to that 2009 post, Tennessee whiskey isn't any whiskey made in Tennessee. The whiskey must meet all of the requirements for straight bourbon whiskey and be made in Tennessee to qualify.

Cool Things Craft Distillers Are Doing Right Now.

2012-01-23T05:00:00.010-06:00

Here are some cool things craft distillers around the country are doing right now.

Tom’s Foolery Distillery near Cleveland has established itself making apple brandy but since they got the old Michter’s barrel-a-day still, they’ve been laying down bourbon. Erik, their first employee, is a brewer by training so they’ve been experimenting with different malts and using two to three times the normal percentage of malt in their bourbon mashes. The first one was 64 percent corn, 14 percent rye and 21 percent malt. That was with a standard whiskey malt. They just finished running several batches with Vienna malt, and a mashbill of 36 percent malt, 57 percent corn and 7 percent rye. Next up: Pale Ale malt. They're getting help from the previous owner of the still, David Beam, and the last master distiller at Michter's in Pennsylvania, Dick Stoll. Beam never operated the still so the last man who did was Stoll, in Pennsylvania more than 20 years ago.

Finger Lakes Distilling in upstate New York has just added a warehouse building for both aging stock and finished goods, both of which had been stored in the distillery itself. Why? Because their aging stock has grown to more than 400 barrels and they were running out of space in the production area, which they need for additional fermenters that are coming soon. They also recently received a Good Food award for their McKenzie Rye Whiskey. The Good Food Awards honor "producers of exceptionally delicious products that also promote sustainability and social good."

Garrison Brothers Distilling will begin to bottle a new batch of its Texas bourbon on February 1st, so it won’t be long before new stock shows up in stores. It usually sells out fast and Texans trying to find it were frustrated in their hunt by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), which had a crazy rule that prevented Garrison Brothers from telling consumers which stores still had it on the shelves. Garrison sued the TABC and won. That was just before Christmas. Now when stocks run low at retail, the distillery will be able to post on their website a list of stores that still have bottles to sell.

A few misguided micros think they can build themselves up by trashing the big whiskey-makers. The more enlightened envision a rising tide that raises all ships. Some of the latter are even sourcing ("curating" is the new term) whiskey from majors to sell as their own brands, alongside products they make themselves. Utah’s High West was a pioneer at this and has several, mostly using rye whiskey, the best-known being their original brand, Rendezvous. West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler has a new one called Old Scout that is a five-year-old straight bourbon bottled at 49.5% ABV.

A Scotch For Bourbon Lovers.

2012-01-21T05:00:00.010-06:00

The tart, smoky taste of peat is such a scotch whisky signature, and so unlike any flavor in the bourbon profile, that it is easy to say no common ground exists between the world’s two favorite whiskey styles.

Since more than 90 percent of the scotch consumed is blended, and most blends work in at least a hint of peat, finding a scotch with none can be challenging, but they do exist.

If peat-less scotch is what you seek, look to single malts from Speyside. Cutty Sark has about the lightest peat signature of any blend and there is a lovely Speyside malt at the heart of Cutty; The Glenrothes.

Although The Glenrothes Distillery is 134 years old, the Glenrothes brand is only about 20. That’s when London’s Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain's oldest wine and spirits merchant, first issued a Glenrothes single malt. It was also the first vintage-dated single malt.

The Glenrothes is a huge distillery, one of five in the small town of Rothes. Only about two-percent of its output is released as singles, the rest goes into blends.

“Glen,” by the way, is the Scottish word for river, and when a whiskey’s name starts with Glen, the second part is the name of the river on which the distillery is located. In this case, Rothes is both a tributary of the Spey and the town name.

Rothes is also home to Forsyths, a major still manufacturer. Forsyths made the three pot stills at the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Kentucky.

These notes are based on the just-released 1995 vintage. It is 16-years-old and 43 percent ABV.

In the absence of peat, most of the whisky’s flavor comes from the barrel. About a third of this batch comes from sherry casks, both American and Spanish oak. These casks are new wood that has just been briefly seasoned with Oloroso sherry.

The rest is from former bourbon barrels that have been through at least one full aging cycle with malt whiskey.

Because they're using new wood there’s a lot of vanilla and caramel, a little bit of chocolate, butterscotch, white pepper, and cedar, with a hint of peanuts on the finish. The taste is mild overall and very easy to like. There is a resemblance to Weller 12, a wheated bourbon, believe it or not.

If you’re mostly a bourbon drinker and haven’t had much luck with scotch, this is a premium single malt you just might enjoy.

One of the advantages bourbon usually has over scotch is price. Weller 12 will set you back about $30. The Glenrothes 1995 Vintage is more than twice that much, but you can find other Glenrothes for as little as $45.

In the USA, The Glenrothes is marketed by Campari America, the new name for Skyy Spirits, which in addition to Skyy Vodka also gives us Wild Turkey bourbon and rye. Not incidentally, Campari’s portfolio also includes Cutty Sark.

Who Are You?

2012-01-20T05:00:00.006-06:00

If you're a Syrian dissident in Homs writing a blog about the uprising there, I can see why you might want to be anonymous. But if you're a guy in Indiana writing about what whiskeys you like, why all the secrecy?

When I check out a new whiskey blog, I invariably want to know something about the person or persons writing it. I look for an 'about' tab, or something similar. Sometimes they are obvious, sometimes the information is there but you have to dig for it. Often there is nothing, no biography, no statement of purpose beyond "I started this blog to write about things I like to write about."

So many people are writing whiskey blogs these days, I need some criteria for deciding which ones to follow. Sure, one can judge the writing quality, and I will discard something if it's poorly written. (Life's too short.) But in a crowded field, shouldn't you do something to try to stand out? What's your point of view? Your raison d'être?

If you've decided to write anonymously, tell me why.

Does all this casual anonymity bother anyone else? Assuming you like this blog, would you like it just as well if you had no idea who writes it? Would you like it better? Especially if the blogger offers opinions, and reviews are the mainstay of most other whiskey blogs, I want to know the writer's qualifications. Is that weird? Or are qualifications also passe?

From the earliest days of the internet, people have used handles. When bandwidth was dear, a unique handle was better than a full name as a way to distinguish people with similar names from each other. It wasn't necessarily about anonymity. In many cases, the community was small and the participants all knew each other through other channels.

On bulletin boards, you see the same names often enough that you get to know them as individuals even if you don't know anything tangible about them. You learn who usually has something worthwhile to say and who doesn't. You can do the same thing with blogs, I suppose.

Writing anonymously is almost unheard of in old media, except in the case of news reporting. The Economist, which I love, is rare in that no writer is ever credited. Even commentators use aliases, house names whose bearers can change without notice. You're supposed to accept the credibility of the institution itself. Okay, fine, but The Economist is 169 years old. "Sippy Likes Whiskey" is not.

Isn't there something to be said for signing your name to your ideas? Claiming them? Being willing to defend them? Don't you tend to take yourself more seriously when you have some exposure? Does anonymity make people more likely to behave irresponsibly?

Anonymity on the web seems so much the rule that people don't even think about it. I wish they would. That's all I'm saying.

Beam Completes Cooley Acquisition.

2012-01-18T05:00:00.003-06:00

Beam Inc. announced yesterday that it has completed the acquisition of Cooley Distillery, the award-winning Irish whiskey producer.

The acquisition includes the Kilbeggan, Connemara, Tyrconnell and Greenore brands, as well as aging inventory and Cooley’s malt and grain distilleries in Dundalk and Kilbeggan, Ireland. Cooley is one of only three sources for Irish whiskey and was the category’s only remaining independent producer.

"As one of the world’s fastest-growing spirits companies, Beam is excited to enter one of the world’s fastest-growing spirits categories," said Matt Shattock, president and chief executive officer of Beam. "We look forward to combining our whiskey expertise, brand-building firepower and strong routes to market with the experience, talent and passion of the Teeling family and the Cooley team to help take these award-winning brands to the next level."

There was an excellent article by Dominic Roskrow in the Fall, 2011 issue of Whisky Advocate about everything Cooley has accomplished in its short history.

While one may understandably wish they were still the brash, independent upstart, shaking the staid foundations of the Irish whiskey industry, this sale is a sign of success, not failure. Perhaps their trajectory will inspire another, new upstart to follow Cooley's path.

As noted above, Ireland has but three whiskey producers, now owned by Beam, Diageo and Pernod. Kilbeggan is the company's main blend and Tyrconnell is its main single malt. Both were introduced to the United States market by Heaven Hill, which had the exclusive U.S. distribution contract in the early years. Heaven Hill deserves credit for launching the brands and building them to the point where Cooley became the prize it now is for Beam.

In addition to its own brands, Cooley has been the source for several brands owned and marketed by non-distiller producers, most prominently the Michael Collins line (a blend and a single) owned by the Sidney Frank Company.

"Small Barrels" Now On Kindle.

2012-01-17T05:00:00.001-06:00

Do you recall this post from last year, about the small barrels experiment at Buffalo Trace (BT)? It created quite a sensation. Well, it's now a book. A very small book (like the barrels) but also a very inexpensive one, just 99 cents on Kindle.

I have been looking at Kindle as a way to make some of the material I write for my newsletter, The Bourbon Country Reader, available to a wider audience. So this is, in part, an experiment.

By the way, you don't need a Kindle to read a Kindle book. You can download a free reader for PCs and other devices, or you can just read them using your web browser.

In addition to the small barrels article, the book includes a new piece about some of the reaction, plus a review of a couple of specific whiskeys aged in little barrels. There's also a piece originally posted here in December, 2010.

The recent post received a lot of comments, most of them from people who only (and in some cases, barely) read the post, not the actual article. You can find more people taking me to task over on the ADI Forums. Plenty of people are prepared to ream me for the headline alone. This way they can at least read the article first.

One familiar refrain is that of course whiskey aged in small barrels for five years is bad, you should never age whiskey in a small barrel for that long, yet I defy anyone to show me where anyone made such a statement before I started to publicize the BT experiment.

Your Vote, Your Bourbon.

2012-01-16T05:00:00.009-06:00

It is an indication of how mainstream American whiskey has become in recent years that novelty products are now being made using whiskey as their platform.

This is a new/old trend, as there were many novelty bourbons 50 years ago, when the Republican Elephant in the picture above was made by Jim Beam for the 1960 presidential election. It had, of course, an equine counterpart. Beam continued the series through several more presidential election cycles, with new designs each time.

The pictured decanter held Beam straight bourbon at 43% ABV, aged 100 months (8.3 years).

The contemporary version is Heaven Hill's new Red State and Blue State bourbons, which should be in stores now. The whiskey is Heaven Hill straight bourbon (i.e., Evan Williams) at 40% ABV, with no age statement. The price should be about $15.

The idea, of course, is to express your political preference according to which one you buy. Another suggestion is that you buy both for a party and see which one wins among your guests. No one pretends it's anything other than a fun way to sell a little more bourbon.

If you go to either product's Facebook page and 'like' it, a donation will be made to the USO.

The irony of both bottles containing the exact same whiskey is probably unintended.

Children Welcome!

2012-01-15T05:00:00.011-06:00

Most alcohol-related sites on the web have an age gate. It's all honor system, but you must at least claim you are of legal drinking age to get in.

There's a good reason for this. The purpose of those sites is to persuade visitors to buy a certain alcohol product. All alcohol producers pledge not to market their products to underage persons, and contrary to the calumnies of the Neo-Prohibitionists, the vast majority of alcohol producers honor that pledge in good faith. Hence the age gates.

Some booze bloggers also label their sites 'for adults only.' That's their prerogative, but The Chuck Cowdery Blog has a different attitude.

You may be too young to drink alcoholic beverages but you're never to young to learn.

What you read here will be factual, honest, and suitable for persons of all ages. Childhood is not a permanent condition and most of it is spent preparing for adulthood. If you are underage, it is for many reasons in your best interest to obey the law, but by all means drink deeply of the cup of knowledge, and do so early and often.

Young people should be encouraged to eschew alcohol until they reach legal drinking age, but you won't accomplish that by pretending alcohol doesn't exist. If all they get is the ham-handed and dishonest anti-alcohol messages contained in most youth alcohol awareness programs, that alone may drive them prematurely to imbibe.

So don't drink, kids. And say no to drugs. And you might want to watch your caffeine and sugar intake too. But by all means, read.

And if this post, and especially the picture, infuriates some Neo-Prohibitionists, that's a bonus.

BT's Single Oak Project Suffers From 'Holy Grail' Tag.

2012-01-14T12:21:00.000-06:00

On his Sour Mash Manifesto blog this past Wednesday, Jason Pyle worried that his whiskey geek card might be taken away because he can't get behind the Buffalo Trace (BT) Single Oak Bourbon Project.

Jason's whiskey cred is secure. He may be overly fond of white and under-aged craft whiskeys, but on the Single Oak thing he's not wrong.

Reading over the piece and its comments, it becomes clear that the problem isn't the Single Oak Project per se, it is the whole 'search for the Holy Grail' overlay, in which BT says Single Oak is part of its quest to make the perfect bourbon.

Holy Grail has become a double-edged sword for BT. The theme is a winner with the general press. It piques their interest and that allows BT to reach a wider audience. But it turns off the whiskey geek community because it glorifies something we reject. We're not in this to find one whiskey to drink for the rest of our lives. We want to have as many good but different whiskey experiences as possible. Sampling the Single Oak bourbons is a good and different whiskey experience, one Jason and many others will enjoy more if they just forget the 'Holy Grail' nonsense.

BT is okay with that. They have always said 'Holy Grail' is more about a commitment to continuous quality improvement than it is about actually making the ultimate bourbon. Taken as a metaphor, it's not nearly so irritating and distracting. It's also another way BT breaks with conventional whiskey wisdom, as most producers like to claim they achieved perfection a century ago and haven't changed a thing since.

Which is the higher pile of hubris is up to each of us to decide for ourselves, but there is genuine appeal in the idea that the best is yet to come.

Meet Your Chicago Distillers, February 8.

2012-01-13T05:00:00.003-06:00

There are now three micro-distilleries in the Chicago area and you can sample their wares on Wednesday, February 8, from 7 PM to 10 PM, at Jerry's in Wicker Park (1938 W. Division).

Participating are Koval (Ravenswood), Few Spirits (Evanston), and North Shore Distillery (Lake Bluff).

Leanne Strickler, of North Shore, is the guest bartender.

Your $10 entry includes one specialty cocktail, plus samples from the distillers.

One of the most exciting things about the micro-distillery phenomenon is how these craft spirits-makers relate to their local communities. They develop very loyal and ardent fan bases and this is an easy way to get a taste of that, quite literally, especially if you live in or near Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.

DISCUS Applauds Bloomberg's "Commitment to Hospitality Jobs."

2012-01-11T17:15:00.004-06:00

Say what you will about lobbyists. When they lobby for a cause you support, you hope they will be good at their job. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is good at its job.

The first rule of issue advocacy is framing. Define the issue in the way most favorable to your position. That's why the headline on the press release is: "Distilled Spirits Council Applauds Mayor Bloomberg’s Commitment to New York City Hospitality Jobs."

That's not how the story started out.

Overnight, the New York Post broke a story under the headline, "Mayor's plan to limit booze sales." The lead went like this: "Party pooper! First, Mayor Bloomberg went after smoking in public places. Then trans-fats, salt and sugary drinks. Now Bloomberg — known for sipping fine wine and downing a cold beer from time to time — wants to crack down on alcohol sales to curb excessive drinking, according to a provocative planning document obtained by The Post."

The story was quickly picked up by bloggers, all too eager to condemn Bloomberg as First Nanny.

Small problem, though. It wasn't true.

The proposal to slash the number of establishments in the city that sell booze came from the city's health department, in a planning document that hadn't been fully vetted yet. Someone leaked it to The Post and they rushed it into print, assuming Bloomberg himself endorsed the plan.

He didn't.

Within hours of The Post's story, Bloomberg nixed the proposal (through spokesman Stu Loeser) and only then did DISCUS let its short press release fly.

"The Distilled Spirits Council applauds Mayor Bloomberg for nixing the New York City Health Department proposal to reduce alcohol outlets, and for understanding that population-based approaches to reduce alcohol abuse are ineffective. The Mayor clearly realizes that forcing thousands of restaurant workers and bartenders into the unemployment line is no way to improve community health.

"Repeated studies have shown that population-based approaches, such as advertising restrictions and a reduction in retail outlets, do little to reduce alcohol abuse and will only impact moderate drinkers and the employees of the hospitality industry."

That last sentence is worth committing to memory, for use the next time some politician or activist goes on a tear about restricting the number of retail licenses, or banning or restricting alcohol marketing. (Remember the Four Loko nonsense?) Those are phony solutions. They do nothing to discourage alcohol abuse and they hurt small businesses and the people they employ. They also inconvenience the vast majority of alcohol consumers who do so responsibly.

There is a constituency for that sort of thing. It is the anti-alcohol movement -- Neo-Prohibitionists, New Drys, whatever you want to call them. Their true goal is to give National Prohibition another go, but they know better than to admit that outright. Don't be fooled.

The Post, of course, in all its shameless majesty, is now crowing about how it broke the story. It neglects to mention that it grossly mis-reported the story. I'm sure no one is surprised by The Post's crappy journalism. Stay classy, NYP.

Next Time, Take Whiskey.

2012-01-04T00:23:00.002-06:00

It is considered good form to take a host/hostess gift whenever you attend a party in a private home. Obviously, there are exceptions, but even when it's not really expected it is almost always appreciated.

A bottle of wine is the most common gift. Many people misunderstand this tradition and think the gift is necessarily supposed to be used at that evening's festivities. It can be but it doesn't have to be. It is a gift and as soon as you hand it to your host/hostess it is their property and theirs to use as they see fit.

Don't be offended if they put it away and don't open it. Don't assume that means they don't like it. It may mean they like it very much and don't want to share it. That's their business and you should be okay with whatever they do. That's the etiquette rule. You can look it up.

Obviously, if it's a BYOB party or you have previously agreed to provide wine for the event, that's a different story, but a pure host/hostess gift is just that, a gift.

And it doesn't have to be wine. I've used flowers successfully. Candy or some other treat can be good, though it shouldn't be something perishable that seems to demand immediate consumption. Again, it's a gift. Your interest in it expires the moment you hand it over.

If wine is good, why not whiskey? I just heard from a correspondent who bought a case of Rittenhouse Rye Bottled-In-Bond (BIB) to make that his standard host/hostess gift. Buying a case brings the per-bottle price down to about $20. Rit is a nice choice because it's very good whiskey at any price, and happens to be a good value. In some markets, it's even a few bucks less. That price is here in Chicago.

Rittenhouse Rye BIB has been in short supply lately, but the drought seems to be over. I was in the Lincoln Park Binny's tonight and they had a floor stacking of about 50 cases, priced at $22.99 for the individual 750 ml bottle (less for a 12-bottle case).

Rittenhouse Rye is a straight rye whiskey. The BIB is 50% ABV. There is a 40% ABV version too, but that one is not widely distributed. The BIB is very popular with bars and cocktail enthusiasts. It is a Heaven Hill brand but the current product was made for them by Brown-Forman, before Heaven Hill increased capacity at its Louisville distillery. Now their rye is all made there, but it will be a few more years before that whiskey reaches market.

Perfect For New Year's Eve: The Seelbach.

2011-12-27T21:01:00.001-06:00

The Seelbach in Louisville is a wonderful, old hotel in the grand style of the late 19th and early 20th century, made immortal as the site of Daisy's wedding in The Great Gatsby. No doubt it is perfect for New Year's Eve, although you pretty much need to be in Louisville for that to be an option.

No, I'm talking about the Seelbach Cocktail. Why is it perfect for New Year's Eve? Because it is the only cocktail that comes to mind that combines bourbon with champagne. What's more, as unlikely as it sounds, it is delicious.

The cocktail was created by a Seelbach bartender in 1917. Its recipe was lost during Prohibition and only reappeared in 1995. It's other ingredients are unusual too, not one but two historic bitters.

Although the recipe doesn't specify a bourbon, I have had it at the Old Seelbach Bar made with Blanton's bourbon, which is quite nice. I suggest any of the better bourbons but don't use one that is more than 12-years-old, as too much wood throws it off.

Since it is served in a champagne flute, no one needs to know that you are celebrating with a far superior drink to champagne alone.

Seelbach Cocktail

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 ounce bourbon
1/2 ounce Cointreau
7 dashes Angostura bitters
7 dashes Peychaud's bitters
4 ounces chilled brut Champagne
1 orange twist, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pour all of the ingredients, in the order given, into a Champagne flute. Add the garnish.

Bourbon For Christmas.

2011-12-23T17:28:00.000-06:00

What bourbon is good for Christmas? Well, heck, they all are, but here are a couple of thoughts.

You can make egg nog with bourbon. Evan Williams has a ready-to-drink version. So, no doubt, do some other brands. You can substitute bourbon for the more traditional brandy or rum, or mix them 50/50. Martha Stewart's recipe calls for all three.

When Maker's 46 came out, many of the reviews described it as "rich in Christmas spices," so why not make that your official Christmas bourbon?

Goose Island Brewery here in Chicago changes its Christmas Ale every year, but at least once they made a version they conditioned in bourbon barrels.

Make bourbon balls. They aren't specifically a holiday confection, but they're really good. Recipes abound on the web.

Here's a simple Christmas cocktail using bourbon. It was developed by Paul Abercrombie.

Ingredients

Handful of organic cranberries, picked over and rinsed
4 ounces organic cranberry juice
2 ounces bourbon

Directions

In a pint glass, muddle the cranberries until crushed (make sure not to pulverize the cranberries so much that you release the seeds' bitter taste).

Add a large handful of cracked ice, the cranberry juice, and bourbon. Stir.

Micro-Distiller MB Rowland Joins KDA.

2011-12-21T15:53:00.001-06:00

MB Roland Distillery, an innovative leader in Kentucky’s growing craft distilling industry, announced today that it has joined the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA).

"We’re proud to welcome MB Roland Distillery to the KDA, and we look forward to working with them to promote and protect our signature industry,” said John Rhea, Chairman of the KDA’s Board of Directors and the Chief Operating Officer at Four Roses Distillery.

“We’ve been very impressed with the leadership from Paul Tomaszewski and his team and their success in developing hand-crafted spirits using locally grown ingredients,” Rhea said. “They are an integral part of our future and the growing craft distillery industry in Kentucky.”

Founded in 2008 by Paul Tomaszewski, MB Roland is a small batch craft distillery located in Christian County that produces a variety of whiskies and other spirits.

The distillery has become one of the Fort Campbell area’s leading tourism destinations.

“It is truly an honor and privilege to be included as a member of such a distinguished and historic organization,” Tomaszewski said. “By the KDA allowing craft distilleries such as ourselves to join its ranks, they acknowledge that our industry is advancing in novel and innovative ways.

MB Roland becomes the KDA’s ninth member and the third Kentucky craft distillery to join. The KDA, a non-profit group founded in 1880, is the state’s leading voice on spirits issues, from taxes to tourism, technical matters and more. Members include Beam Inc. (Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark), Brown-Forman Corp., Diageo North America, Four Roses, Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey. Alltech and Barrel House Distillery, both in Lexington, are the other craft distillery members.

KDA President Eric Gregory said the new craft distillery membership is available to licensed distillers in Kentucky that maintain an inventory of fewer than 25,000 barrels of distilled beverage spirits. There are more than 200 craft – or 'micro distilleries' – in the country, including several in Kentucky.

"Our craft members bring a unique perspective on issues that affect our industry," Gregory said. "We look forward to working with MB Roland to promote our proud heritage, advocate for fair treatment of our industry, and continue our commitment to responsible drinking.”

Pictured are (left to right) KDA Chairman John Rhea of Four Roses Distillery; Paul Tomaszewski, founder of MB Roland Distillery; and Chris Morris, Master Distiller at Brown-Forman.

Buffalo Trace Proves Small Barrels Don't Work.

2011-12-15T05:00:00.008-06:00

Some time over the summer, I was asked by Buffalo Trace if I would like to come to the distillery in September, during the Bourbon Festival, to taste one of their failed experiments.

It's a measure of how strange this obsession is that I didn't hesitate. "Of course," I said.

Buffalo Trace has been experimenting for about 20 years. Everybody experiments, but Buffalo Trace has done things others don't, like release the results of some of the experiments as part of their Experimental Collection.

It's always been understood that some of the experiments are pronounced failures and the whiskey is discarded. Here was a case where they considered the experiment a failure, but thought I might like to taste its product anyway.

That's because the experiment involved aging bourbon in small barrels. Specifically, 5 gallon, 10 gallon and 15 gallon barrels. Yes, those are the sizes micro-distillers use.

I last wrote about small barrels in July, prompted by something John Hansell posted on his blog.

I write in depth about the Buffalo Trace experiment in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped today. You really should subscribe and read the whole story, but I won't keep you in suspense. The whiskey was standard Buffalo Trace bourbon and it was aged in the small barrels for five years. It tasted bad. The whiskey from the 5 gallon barrel tasted worst.

Tasting them, you could get some ideas about why they tasted so bad. I talk about that too.

The December, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 2. In it, we also tell the story of The Great Whiskey Glut, observe the changing of the guard at Virginia Gentlemen, and taste two limited edition releases from A. Smith Bowman and Heaven Hill.

Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.

Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.

Click here for more information.

Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).

Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)

Country Ham: Another Great Kentucky Product.

2011-12-13T05:00:00.001-06:00

I call the above “a baggie of bliss.” Many convenience stores in Kentucky sell them at the cash register. It’s just a slice of Kentucky country ham between two pieces of white bread, and it is sublime.

Although bourbon whiskey is Kentucky’s best known consumable, it’s not the only Kentucky product that I crave. I’ve written before about other local specialties such as the Hot Brown Sandwich. Today I rise in praise of Kentucky country ham.

Country ham is a characteristic Southern food and not limited to Kentucky, but most of my experience has been with the Kentucky version. Kentucky country ham is salt-cured and its saltiness is what you notice first. It’s too much for some people. But behind the salt there is a wonderful, rich flavor that quickly spoils you for any other type of ham.

Most of the country ham producers in Kentucky are small and family-owned. It’s a good product for mail order because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated. You can buy everything from packages of ‘biscuit slices’ up to whole hams. Finchville Farms is a brand I can usually pick up at Kroger’s in Kentucky when I’m visiting there and it’s the one I’ve enjoyed most recently, but there are many others that are just as good. Country ham is also surprisingly inexpensive.

Although country ham doesn’t have to be refrigerated it is raw and needs to be cooked before eating. I always get slices, which can be fried in a hot, dry skillet in a few minutes, just until the meat starts to brown. Don’t overcook, because it gets tough if you do.

Although it’s very simple, it took me a while to master red eye gravy, mostly because I kept expecting it to be something it’s not. After you finish cooking the ham, remove it from the skillet and add a small amount of water to deglaze the skillet. Some people use coffee instead. Use a spoon or spatula to loosen the flavorful residue and keep stirring it as the liquid reduces. It will thicken only slightly. Then pour it over the ham. It’s not gravy in the normal sense. Mostly it’s used to enhance the flavor of the meat while also giving it back some of its moisture, making it more tender.

Kentucky country ham and Kentucky bourbon complement each other well because both are highly flavorful. Kentucky country ham is usually eaten at breakfast, but finger sandwiches of country ham tucked inside beaten biscuits are popular at parties. Kurtz’s Restaurant, in Bardstown, offers a dinner of country ham and fried chicken that is hard to resist.

Jack Daniel's Is Nipping At Johnnie Walker's Heels.

2011-12-12T05:00:00.014-06:00

In a recent report by IWSR (International Wine & Spirit Research) and just-drinks, Johnnie Walker was declared the world's top performing distilled spirits brand for 2010, but special notice was given to Jack Daniel's, "which punches above its weight in the global spirits market," according to the study. Jack Daniel's, which is owned by Brown-Forman, is the only brand in the top eight not owned by either Diegeo or Pernod.

In this case, "top performing" incorporates IWSR's rankings based on sales volume, retail value and five-year growth, with a just-drinks reader survey of industry opinion. Other researchers using different methodologies will arrive at different results, so "World's #1 Spirits Brand" remains an elusive title.

Daniel's ranked #4 overall. The second and third places went to vodkas Smirnoff and Absolut, respectively.

This sort of news is released by the company that conducted the research as a tease to sell the full report, so it never tells you everything you want to know. To me, the importance of this sort of news is that although scotch outsells bourbon about five-to-one worldwide, American whiskey Jack Daniel's beats every scotch except Mr. Walker's.

Rounding out the top ten, in order, are Captain Morgan, Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Baileys, Hennessy, and Jägermeister.

The full story is here. If you want to read the full report, that will cost you $790. You can order it here.

Brown-Forman Makes Barrels Too.

2011-12-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

Forty years ago, most large companies that made whiskey also made barrels in which to age it. Today, only Brown-Forman does.

The Brown-Forman Cooperage is on the south side of Louisville, just west of the airport. From the outside it looks like any other factory, except for the millions of rough cut staves neatly stacked in the yard outside.

At any given time, the cooperage's wood inventory alone is valued at about $30 million.

Brown-Forman Cooperage makes barrels for Brown-Forman brands exclusively, including Jack Daniel's, Early Times, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Canadian Mist, and Herradura. The barrels are made of white oak and held together with steel hoops. No adhesives or fasteners of any kind are used.

All of a whiskey's color and about half of its flavor comes from the barrel.

That wood stacked outside isn't just stored there. It is drying naturally, an important step in the process of making flavor compounds in the wood available for extraction by the aging spirit. It typically stays there, fully exposed to the elements, for six month to two years. Some of it will be finished in a warehouse-size kiln.

The cooperage itself is hot, crowded and noisy. Although there are a lot of machines, there are lots of people too. One of the most highly-skilled jobs is barrel raising. Barrel raisers use their judgment to select an assortment of staves of varying widths which, properly aligned and pulled together, will form the body of the barrel. Their skill is essential to giving the barrel its most important characteristic, water-tightness.

In one of the final steps, the barrels are burned on the inside. This creates a layer of charcoal that filters the spirit and also carmelizes some of the wood sugars.

Brown-Forman Cooperage is open for tours. Contact Mint Julep Tours at (502) 583-1433 to make arrangements.

Be Careful With High Proof Whiskey.

2011-12-08T05:00:00.016-06:00

At this time of year, when people like to treat themselves and their friends, it's common to buy whiskeys you normally don't, probably because they're too damn expensive.

Many people are enamored of barrel proof or cask strength whiskey, whether it's Booker's Bourbon at 63% ABV (alcohol by volume), McCallan Single Malt at 58% ABV, or the 2007 George T. Stagg Bourbon at 72.4% ABV. If you give or receive any of these this holiday season, or anything else above about 55% ABV, be careful.

Of course, you always need to be careful with straight spirits. Most whiskey is sold at 40% ABV, which is about four times as much alcohol per ounce as wine and more than eight times as much as most beers.

The most important part of self-control in an alcohol consumption context is being aware of exactly how much alcohol is going into your body; not the volume of liquid, the volume of alcohol.

With very high proof beverages there are additional risks.

Gentle sipping of small quantities of very high proof spirits probably won’t hurt you. It depends on your personal sensitivity. Drinking—as opposed to sipping—alcohol at very high concentrations risks damage to any and all of the tissue it encounters along the way: mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach.

A pour of straight Stagg, for example, contains 75 percent more alcohol than Jack Daniel’s. If you’re not paying careful attention to how much you consume, you risk alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal. Those are the primary risks, tissue damage and alcohol poisoning.

On the other side of the risk there is no reward. High proof alcohol tends to deaden or anesthetize the sense receptors, reducing your ability to taste or smell the whiskey. No fun in that.

Whiskeys aren’t bottled at high proof so you can drink them that way. They’re usually expensive and are bottled that way so you pay for whiskey, not added water, and can prepare it for drinking as you see fit. I recommend reducing the proof with room temperature water to about 50% ABV.

I hope this isn't a downer. Have a great holiday, including your favorite adult beverages. Just be adult about it.

Two Girls For Every Boy.

2011-12-07T05:00:00.002-06:00

For a brief period in my childhood, Southern California was where I wanted to be, instead of Mansfield, Ohio, where I was.

The reason in no small part was the song "Surf City" by Jan and Dean. It was #1 for two weeks in July of 1963. It was one of the first records I owned.

I was 11 years old.

I couldn’t drive but I wanted to buy a 1930 Ford Wagon and call it a woody. I knew it wouldn’t have a back seat or a rear window but it would still get me where I wanted to go, which was the beach. Surf City was where they never rolled the streets up because they were either surfing or throwing a party.

Going to parties and surfing sounded like the life for me. At the time I had barely been in an ocean let alone surfed, and most of my party experience involved relatives and cake.

But I sincerely wanted to shoot the curl, then check out the parties for a surfer girl. Although I wouldn’t have known what to do with one at the time, “two girls for every boy” sounded like good odds.

Check Out My LDI Story In The New Whisky Advocate.

2011-12-06T05:00:00.044-06:00

The new issue of Whisky Advocate, for Winter 2011, is out now. Whisky Advocate is the new name for Malt Advocate, to which I am a long-time contributor.

My piece in the new issue is "LDI: the Mystery Distillery." As the teaser says, many of today's new and notable bourbons and ryes come from this large distillery near Lawrenceburg, Indiana; a distillery that most whiskey drinkers don't even know about.

But you do, if you are a regular follower of this blog.

I have been fascinated by LDI for a long time. I last posted about it here, here and here.

One thing about writing for print magazines is that they still have very long lead times. I submitted the LDI story before the sale was announced. The magazine was just about to go to press when I heard LDI had sold. Happily, we were able to include that rather crucial piece of news, so the story is up-to-date.

If you want to learn all you can about whiskey, I recommend* Whisky Advocate. With its recent redesign the magazine smartly exploits the unique tactile and visual pleasures of print. The result is a thing of beauty. (I try not to sully it too much.) Subscriptions are $18 a year.

* I also recommend that other whiskey magazine that I also write for. I'll write glowingly about it the next time one of my articles is published there.

New Woodford Rye Is In Stores Now.

2011-12-05T18:41:00.000-06:00

The new Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Rare Rye Selection is in stores now.

I know that’s a mouthful. Let’s break it down.

Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select is a very good Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey made by Brown-Forman. They have an experimental program, called the Master’s Collection, that releases one new limited edition whiskey each year at about this time.

I like the Master's Collection. I think it is exactly the kind of experimental program a major company/major brand should do. That's not to say other companies do it wrong, I just like the way Woodford does it very much.

This year, for the first time, two experiments are presented, in a set consisting of two 375 ml bottles that sells for about $100. This is the first step in the direction of Woodford being a whiskey distillery that makes more than bourbon.

I’ve tasted them. They're very good and unlike anything else I've ever tasted.

The New Cask Rye is technically a straight rye, because it’s aged in new charred barrels, but it is unlike any other straight rye I’ve ever had. The Aged Cask Rye is unique, unlike any other whiskey I’ve ever tasted. Both are very flavorful, with a lot of rye character. All of the earthy, grassy, spicy, minty notes you expect are there, probably too much for some palates. Naturally, the ‘aged’ cask version (their euphemism for used barrels) has very little oak character and very little color.

I enjoyed both but, more importantly, learned a lot from them.

What they are missing is the corn backbone of most straight ryes. Most straight ryes are just 51 percent rye, the legal minimum, making them about 40 percent corn. Even in George Washington's day, about 30 percent of the recipe was corn. These, like the LDI ryes, contain no corn. You notice its absence in the body more than the taste. All-rye ryes seem thin, even when they are very well aged.

Woodford broke one of its own Master’s Collection rules this time, in that it changed more than one variable in this experiment. In addition to being aged in new barrels, the New Cask Rye was barrel entered at 100° proof while the Aged Cask Rye was barrel entered at 86° proof.

One-hundred proof is low. Eighty-six proof is ridiculously low.

Both whiskeys use the exact same distillate. The mash was 100 percent rye, a combination of malted and un-malted grain. The age is at least 7 to 8 years old, maybe more. (They're not saying.) All of it was made in the pot stills at Woodford Reserve Distillery.

Just when you think you know what rye tastes like, this comes along.

Pappy Van Winkle, Cult Icon.

2011-12-04T05:00:00.048-06:00

The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery website has just been refreshed, for the first time in a long time. It's still pretty simple and doesn't contain much more information than the old one. It's just more up-to-date in its design and functionality, a welcome improvement.

There's also a film in the works, by independent filmmaker Mark Casey. He has it up on KickStarter now. It's called "Chasing Pappy," and is about the hardest of hardcore bourbon enthusiasts, Pappy fiends.

Let's see if I can explain the Van Winkle phenomenon in a few words. Van Winkle is a brand of whiskey. The Van Winkle whiskeys are always in very limited supply. Each year, at about this time, the annual allocation is released. What follows is a frenzy, as fans try to secure as many rare bottles as they can.

Much of the drama is played out online.

As you can learn from the new website, there are actually seven products in the Van Winkle line. All are limited but the frenzy is reserved for the rarest ones, the three bourbons sold under the Pappy Van Winkle banner. They are 15 years old, 20 years old, and 23 years old respectively.

Julian P. 'Pappy' Van Winkle (1874-1965) was a real person, a colorful character who owned a legendary distillery, Stitzel-Weller. Today's Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery isn't a distillery so much as a marketing company. It is run by Pappy's namesake grandson and his son, and is affiliated with Sazerac and, specifically, Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.

I've written about Van Winkle before, most recently here.

A Few Words About Vodka.

2011-12-03T05:00:00.005-06:00

Sometimes I just can't resist poking the bear. In that spirit, I offer some thoughts about vodka.

Kevin Erskine is a writer who I know as a scotch guy. He recently published an ebook about vodka. I churlishly commented that a proper book about vodka would be all blank pages.

Even vodka enthusiasts will admit that vodka is a tabula rasa. By itself, there is very little to it. It is an ideal platform for cocktails because it doesn't get in the way of other ingredients.

The Russian/Polish word 'vodka' was introduced into the American distilled spirits lexicon because its legal synonyms, 'neutral spirits' and 'alcohol,' sounded more like ingredients than beverages. Indeed, 'vodka' is an ingredient in gin, liqueurs, and American blended whiskey, not to mention products like vanilla extract and mouthwash, and medicines such as NyQuil.

U.S. rules define vodka as "neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color." Vodka is not defined by a particular character, aroma, taste or color, but by their absence.

Some vodkas are better made than others. There are differences. But even vodka enthusiasts generally agree that the poorest ones taste like alcohol while the best ones taste like water.

Although virtually all vodka available for sale in the United States is made from grain, U.S. rules allow vodka to be made from any raw material. The raw material used must be disclosed on the label. Circoc is the best known grape vodka. Chopin is the best known potato vodka.

Most people think all vodka is made from potatoes. Funny that, because even historically, in the vodka heartland of Poland and Russia, potatoes were used only when grain was scarce. Potatoes are native to the Americas so they are relatively recent arrivals in Europe, not an ancient and fundamental part of the culture like barley, wheat and rye.

Periodically, Poland and Russia try to get the EU to declare that vodka must be made from either grain or potatoes, nothing else. Grape-growing Europeans typically object.

In addition to grain, potatoes, and grapes, vodka is sometimes made from sugar cane or sugar beets.

Free Jim Beam Burger At Red Robin If Your Name Is Jim.

2011-12-02T05:00:00.002-06:00

The Sweet Jim Beam Bacon Swiss Burger is a bourbon-glazed beef patty topped with Applewood smoked bacon, caramelized bourbon onions and melted Swiss cheese on a garlic butter toasted brioche bun. It's available at Red Robin restaurants through Christmas Eve, but on December 6, if your name is Jim, your burger is free.

Real Jim Beam bourbon is cooked down with molasses and caramelized onions. This is used as a glaze for the burger, which is then topped with the onions.

For the Jim Day promotion on December 6, you will need to present a legal ID to get the free burger. According to the ads, your ID can say Jim, James or Jimbo. My guess is that Jimmy will also pass. J-dog, maybe not.

Stranahan's Licenses Name To Breckenridge Brewery.

2011-12-01T16:58:00.002-06:00

The phenomenon that is Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey just keeps rolling along. Now, according to Westword, Stranahan's has given its Denver neighbor Breckenridge Brewery exclusive rights to use the Stranahan's name on barrel-aged beers. This is another first for Stranahan's. I know of no other micro-distillery that has extended its brand through a licensing agreement.

The first product will be called Stranahan's Well-Built ESB, which will be conditioned for three months in barrels that previously held Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey.

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is unique in being a malt whiskey, like scotch, that's aged in new charred oak barrels, like bourbon. Since Stranahan's can only use the barrels once for its whiskey, it needs a re-use market for them. Breweries are a natural. Other distilleries have done that but I don't know of any who have turned it into a brand extension.

I have a personal history with Breckenridge Brewery at their original Breckenridge brew pub location. They were close to where I stayed, had good food and great beer, and we tended to go there daily apres ski, if not to eat then to at least pick up a couple of growlers for the evening.

That's another advantage Stranahan's has over micro-distilleries in, say, Illinois. Local products in major vacation areas are sampled by people from all over, who may not only like the product, but also its association with the place and pleasures of a fun vacation. They talk it up to friends and urge their local bars and liquor stores to carry it. Both Stranahan's and Breckenridge have access to that cachet, which is priceless.

Brandy And The Holidays.

2011-11-30T05:00:00.018-06:00

This is the time of year when people who never buy brandy buy brandy.

Although bourbon whiskey is great in egg nog, many people prefer the more traditional brandy. It also figures in other holiday and winter season recipes, not just for drinks but also desserts and other dishes.

So this is when a lot of people who aren't normally brandy drinkers buy and drink brandy, and a lot of that brandy is American-made.

Most American brandy comes from California, or so most people think. Two of the five largest brands are entirely made in California while the other three are distilled in California from California-grown grapes, but aged and bottled in Kentucky. And as I told you Sunday, four of the top five American brandies are aged in used bourbon or Tennessee whiskey barrels.

The United States doesn't have the fine brandy tradition of France, Spain, and Greece. Except for a few boutiques like Germain-Robin, American brandy producers go for a utilitarian spirit, typically aged for two to three years. Most of it is perfectly acceptable for egg nog, punches, and other holiday uses, and it's much less expensive than the imports.

There are four major grape brandy producers in the United States. I specified 'grape' there because Laird's, in New Jersey, is technically a brandy producer but their fruit of choice is apples.

There are countless small brandy producers, in California and elsewhere, mostly associated with vineyards and wineries.

The Big Four are all in California. They are:

1. E&J Gallo, in Modesto. They make E&J Brandy, the most popular brand. At about three million cases a year, E&J outsells all other brandies, domestic and imported.

2. F. Korbel and Brothers/Heck Cellars, in Arvin. Korbel Brandy is #4 in sales at about 350-thousand cases. Although Brown-Forman markets and distributes the better-known Korbel Sparkling Wines line, its sole involvement with the brandy is in supplying Jack Daniel's barrels for its aging. Korbel's sales are concentrated in Wisconsin.

3. O'Neill Vintners & Distillers, in Parlier. O'Neill is one of the two big independents. It provides all of the distillate for Heaven Hill's Christian Brothers (#3) and Coronet (#5) brands, and possibly some of #2 Paul Masson for Constellation. It produces more than five million gallons of brandy and neutral spirit a year. Some customers, like Heaven Hill, just buy their distillate. For others they do the aging, blending, and bottling too.

4. Vie-Del Company, in Fresno. Vie-Del is the other big independent. It's a former Seagram's plant, now owned by the Nury family. Together Vie-Del and O'Neill supply distillate for just about every brand except Gallo and Korbel. Like O'Neill, Vie-Del is strictly a producer, selling grape juice, wine, and brandy to customers who handle the branding, marketing and distribution of it.

Heaven Hill Finds Another Good Use For Corn.

2011-11-29T05:00:00.001-06:00

When producers send me whiskey to taste, they invariably use a lot of packing material. When Heaven Hill sends me something that requires packing peanuts, they use the biodegradable kind made from corn.

Just like their whiskey.

Biodegradable peanuts are non-toxic, so you can just throw them in the sink and let the water run. They dissolve completely in a few minutes. Warm water seems to works better than cold and it helps if you stir them a bit. While they are dissolving the kitchen smells like fresh corn. Nice.

The alternative is polystyrene peanuts, which are made from petroleum. They can be reused but not recycled. The UPS Store where I do my shipping accepts and reuses them, but putting them in a bag and taking them over there isn't nearly as easy as just throwing them in the sink and turning the water on.

If you get something packed with peanuts and you're not sure whether or not they're biodegradable, hold one under running water and squeeze it a few times. If it's biodegradable it will get sticky and start to dissolve. Polystyrene peanuts don't do anything.

Polystyrene peanuts are a little lighter and about 10 percent cheaper, so congratulations to Heaven Hill for making the greener choice and demonstrating that corn isn't just good for making whiskey.

Used Barrel Uses.

2011-11-27T20:08:00.005-06:00

A unique characteristic of most American whiskey types is that they must be aged in new charred oak barrels. Straight bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, and straight rye must be so aged. Since those three types represent such a high percentage of U.S.-made aged spirits, most used American whiskey barrels (hundreds of thousands of them every year) are sent to Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and other places where they are used to age virtually every other type of aged spirit.

Heaven Hill is the only major distillery that makes corn whiskey for sale and one of its brands, Mellow Corn, is aged in used barrels.

I assume the barrels Heaven Hill retains are some of the most desirable ones.

The most desirable ones are the youngest, i.e., the barrels that held bourbon for the shortest amount of time. The bourbon that is used for the ready-to-drink market in Australia, where they sell bourbon and ginger ale, and bourbon and cola pre-mixed, is barely two years old--just old enough to be called 'straight bourbon.'

I imagine those are the barrels they retain for aging Mellow Corn.

Mellow Corn is a very small but growing brand. Heaven Hill's principal use for used barrels is for aging their brandies, primarily Christian Brothers. In addition to the youth of the barrels, there is the fact that both the brandies and the bourbon for the ready-to-drinks are aged at Bernheim in Louisville, whereas the rest of Heaven Hill's bourbons are aged in Bardstown and vicinity. I don't know for sure but I suspect Mellow Corn is aged at Bernheim too.

The masonry warehouses at Bernheim are mostly empty, so anything they can age there and not ship to Bardstown they probably do age there. Parker and Craig Beam don't like the way the masonry warehouses age so with the exception of the RTD stuff and some contract production, they don't age any bourbon there.

Most U.S.-made brandy is aged in used bourbon barrels. In addition to Christian Brothers, Heaven Hill also makes Coronet. Korbel brandy is aged in used Jack Daniel's barrels, part of what Brown-Forman pays for the rights to market Korbel Sparkling Wine. Paul Masson Brandy is still aged and bottled at the Barton 1792 Distillery on behalf of the distillery's previous owner, Constellation Brands.

The best-selling U.S.-made brandy is E&J, which is Gallo. They use their own used wine barrels.

Gift Shopping Tips, Part Two.

2011-11-25T05:00:00.011-06:00

Let’s say someone on your list likes whiskey and you are thinking about giving them whiskey as a gift, but you don’t feel entirely confident making the selection yourself.

This post is for you.

On Wednesday, I told you about the outstanding giftiness of my book, DVD and newsletter. All I’ll add is how great would it be to give someone the book and a great bottle, or the DVD and a great bottle? This post is meant to help you with the great bottle part.

To begin, you have to know what your gift recipient usually drinks. If all you know is that the person drinks whiskey, that’s not enough. Even if you know they drink scotch or bourbon, you’re still flying blind. Your best bet is to find out what specific brand or brands they like and if you can get them in order of preference, all the better. This is especially important for scotch drinkers.

Armed with that information, you can make good use of your neighborhood whiskey monger.

First, it’s never wrong to give someone exactly what they usually drink. If that’s what the person likes, why rock the boat? The typical gift-giver, however, feels compelled to do something ‘special.’ Fair enough. That’s why many major brands offer gift packages at this time of year.

The typical whiskey gift box contains a bottle and two glasses, but sometimes it’s a cocktail shaker or something else. They try to price the gift boxes close to the product’s regular price, so they’re usually a good value. Your gift recipient can always use a couple more glasses.

You won’t have many choices because typically each brand only does one gift box per season.

Another good tip is limited editions. Find out if any of the brands your recipient likes is offering a limited edition. The real question will be whether the store has any in stock. Because they are limited, in short supply, and usually sell out, they are automatically giftable.

Don’t confuse limited editions with commemorative bottlings, although either might make a good gift. If the person is primarily a whiskey drinker, then they probably won’t care about a commemorative bottling, which is a special bottle that contains the same whiskey as usual. Jack Daniel’s and Maker’s Mark, among others, do a lot of these.

On the other hand, if your gift recipient is a Jack Daniel’s or Maker’s Mark fanatic, a commemorative might be perfect.

A true limited edition is more than a different bottle, it’s a different whiskey. Although the only difference may be age or proof (i.e., alcohol content), sometimes it’s completely different, like the annual Master’s Collection by Woodford Reserve. Four Roses does two annual limited edition releases. You can also find limited editions in the scotch, Irish and Canadian whisky segments. Just tell the whiskey monger your recipient’s usual brand and ask if that line has any limited editions available.

Warning. Limited editions can be expensive.

Another possibility is that your whiskey monger will have a house selection of your recipient’s brand. This is a type of limited edition. The store’s whiskey buyer selects a specific barrel of that whiskey, then the whole barrel is bottled for exclusive sale at that store. This makes a great gift because it is simultaneously special and unique, yet also exactly the same as the recipient’s usual brand. It’s usually a good value too because it rarely costs more than the regular product, and sometimes less.

Similar, and with some overlap, is the line ‘step up,’ also a good gift. Many brands have a ‘good, better, best’ hierarchy, with pricing to match. Often the Johnnie Walker Red drinker really prefers Johnnie Walker Black, but it’s too expensive for regular use. For that person, a bottle of Black is the perfect gift.

This can sometimes go wrong. The Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 drinker may prefer it to the more costly Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, but it’s worth a shot. You’ll get an A for effort.

The riskiest course is to tell the whiskey monger what your recipient drinks and then ask, “can you recommend something similar?” There you mainly need to know that your recipient likes to try new things. That way, even if they don’t adore your gift, they will at least enjoy the experience of trying it.

Finally, you need a good whiskey monger. Most should be able to provide this level of service, the best ones thrive on exactly this challenge, but there are no guarantees. Trust your instincts. If you don’t feel the love, go somewhere else.

If you hope to receive a whiskey gift you might want to print this out and leave it in a strategic location.

Gift Shopping Tips, Part One.

2011-11-23T19:24:00.007-06:00

If you're a regular visitor here, you've probably noticed the thumbnails down the right hand side of this page. Maybe you've even checked them out. But being as the season of giving is upon us, allow me to call them to your attention.

I'm preparing a post for Friday that will give some genuine gift shopping tips to please the whiskey drinkers on your list. This post today is a shameless plug for my small portfolio of products and their outstanding giftiness.

First, the book: BOURBON, STRAIGHT; The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. It's ideal for anyone with the slightest interest in whiskey, from the greenest beginner to the most bourbon-soaked veteran. Clicking here (or on the thumbnail in the right column) takes you to my website. The advantage of buying it there is that I will autograph it for no extra charge. Look for the box that says 'inscription' on the order form.

It's also available on Amazon. They have been discounting it lately, so go there if you want to save a couple bucks. At the moment it's $15.64, you save 32%! (Sorry, no autographs.)

Next comes the DVD, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky." It's a one-hour documentary, produced for public television. It complements the book and, like the book, veteran bourbon fans will enjoy it as much as novices. Click here to get it from my website or here to get it from Amazon.

If you're old school, I have some VHS tapes of it to sell, but only on the web site, no Amazon.

Finally, the newsletter. Consider giving a gift subscription, for the bourbon lover who has everything. I'll admit you have to be pretty into it to want the newsletter, but for a real American whiskey fan there is nothing else like it. It's only available on the web site, here.

For all of the above, use the 'special instructions' box on the web site if you are having the gift shipped to the recipient and would like a gift card included. I don't offer gift wrapping but Amazon does.

Anything you buy through the website is processed by CCNow, my e-commerce provider, so you don't have to worry about me being your main security bulwark. (It would worry me.) I've used CCNow for years and never had a complaint. In addition to all major credit cards, the web site accepts payments through PayPal.

For more information about CCNow, go here.

The last item on the right is a link to the I Wish Lessons web site. There you can buy tickets to my whiskey classes here in Chicago as gifts, or maybe you should call them scholarships. I generally teach all of the whiskey classes I Wish offers in Chicago but before you buy a ticket, confirm with them that I will be the coach (their preferred term) for that particular class. Here are some I know I'm scheduled to teach.

Check back here on Friday for some actual shopping tips about whiskey gifts. It will be the sort of post that someone hoping to receive a whiskey gift might want to print out and leave in a strategic location.

Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving!

Dispute Between KDA And The Sazerac Company Is Settled.

2011-11-17T11:21:00.002-06:00

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) and Sazerac Company, Inc., today announced that the groups have reached a settlement over disputed trademark issues. Although terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be released to the public, the result is evident from the announcement's wording. KDA continues to own the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® trademark, but Sazerac is allowed to refer to the 'bourbon trail' generically when promoting tourism at its three Kentucky facilities.

The announcement brings an end to litigation filed in U.S. District Court in May 2010 by the KDA against Sazerac, a Louisiana-based company that owns the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, and Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro. In response to KDA’s lawsuit, Sazerac countersued the KDA. The counterclaims against KDA have also been resolved as a result of today’s settlement.

Sazerac Company resigned from the KDA, a non-profit trade association based in Frankfort, in December 2009. Members of the KDA include Beam Global Spirits & Wine (Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark), Brown-Forman, Diageo North America, Four Roses, Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey.

“We’re pleased that an amicable resolution has been reached in this important matter,” said KDA President Eric Gregory. “The KDA and its members look forward to continue building the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® experience and promoting our signature industry’s rich history to visitors from around the world.”

“Sazerac’s three Kentucky distilleries, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery and The Glenmore Distillery look forward to continue developing their distillery tours along the bourbon trail,” said Marketing Service Director, Meredith Moody.

Women And Whiskey.

2011-11-16T13:17:00.001-06:00

I was asked today if I knew of any whiskey brands named after women. The questioner mentioned Four Roses, which is a stretch.

There certainly have been women in the industry, though not many. There are a few famous cases pre-Prohibition of women taking over the family distillery after their husbands died, but as managers not distillers. (In many cases, their husbands weren’t distillers either.) Mary Dowling, who ran Waterfill & Frazier, comes to mind. Agusta Dickel similarly helped run George Dickel for many years after George’s death. But much like the Jewish families who owned distilleries but never put their names on the labels, there have been many unsung women in the whiskey biz.

In modern times, Rachel Barrie of Glenmorangie has the title “Whisky Creator and Master Blender.” Jill Jones is the executive in charge of all production at Brown-Forman, including Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve.

Craig Beam, master distiller at Heaven Hill, has no sons but two teenage daughters and he hopes at least one of them will want to carry on the Beam family tradition.

I’m 60, so I’ve watched this business for a long time. My mom drank nothing but bourbon her whole life as did many women of her generation. Women not drinking whiskey is the more recent phenomenon, but in the last ten years or so the pendulum has swung the other way. I teach a ‘whiskey 101’ class and frequently women outnumber men among the students. I taught a bourbon class last night and I believe there were 5 women out of 13 students. Three were with guys and the last two were with each other. Often in the classes I get groups of 2 to 5 women taking the class together, and their numbers equal or exceed the number who come with male dates. They are invariably young (under 30), as are most of the students in my classes.

Ten years ago, women were rare at whiskey events of any kind, unless they were working, and 90 percent of the women who did attend did so with male dates. But today, among young adults, there seems to be very little difference between the genders in their interest in whiskey. At least that's so here in Chicago.

Proximo To Buy LDI Bottling.

2011-11-12T05:00:00.001-06:00

Proximo Spirits, the New Jersey company behind 1800 Tequila and 3 Olives Vodka, among other brands, is in the process of buying the finished goods warehouse and bottling hall part of the former Seagram's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, according to Proximo CEO Mark Teasdale. As we reported on October 21, the distillery and aging warehouses are being acquired by MGP.

Since the MGP announcement indicated that the distillery sale was conditional on a successful sale of the bottling operation, there was great interest in that part of the transaction.

Proximo popped up on the radar screens of whiskey enthusiasts last year when it was revealed that they had acquired Stranahan's in Colorado, the makers of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. Teasdale says they have no plans to bottle Stranahan's in Indiana. "We consider Stranahan's a jewel," said Teasdale. "It's a special thing and a Colorado brand." Although Proximo is expanding the Stranahan's operation and increasing production, the brand's strong growth in Colorado has limited their ability to distribute it outside the state. "We want to be loyal to the base," says Teasdale.

Lawrenceburg will continue to be a contract bottler and Teasdale hopes they can retain as many of the current customers as possible.

Best Use For Turkey Leftovers: The Hot Brown.

2011-11-11T10:43:00.002-06:00

There is more to Kentucky than bourbon, including foods you won’t find anywhere else. As we are entering prime turkey-eating season, here is the best and highest use for leftover turkey: the Hot Brown.

The Hot Brown is a very rich, open-face sandwich. It was created in 1926 at the Brown Hotel by Chef Fred K. Schmidt. The recipe below, which claims to be the original, was published by Cissy Gregg, the late Food Editor at the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Hot Brown (4 servings)
4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 slices toast, with crusts cut off
Turkey breast slices
Crisp-fried bacon, crumbled
Mushroom slices, sauteed

Saute onion in butter until transparent; add flour and combine. Add milk, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth. Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Add cheese and continue heating until they blend. Remove from heat.

Put one slice of toast in each of four oven-proof individual serving dishes. Top each piece of toast with slices of turkey. Cut remaining toast slices diagonally and place on sides of sandwiches. Ladle cheese sauce over sandwiches. Place sandwiches under broiler until sauce begins to bubble. Garnish with crumbled bacon and sauteed mushroom slices and serve immediately.

If two cups sounds like a lot of sauce for four servings, you have perceived the essence of the Hot Brown. The typical Hot Brown is smothered in sauce. You’ll also notice it says nothing about heating up the turkey slices. You can but it's not necessary. This is a recipe designed for leftovers.

There are many variations. Most places don’t crumble the bacon, and there are many substitutes for the mushrooms, including tomato slices and asparagus spears. Some simply forgo the vegetables altogether. Cissy Gregg even suggested you can substitute chicken for the turkey, but I can’t get behind that.

If you’re traveling to Kentucky, you will find the Hot Brown on the menus of many restaurants. The Brown Hotel still serves it, of course. Kurtz’s, in Bardstown, has a good one too.

The Latest Outrage: Spirit Whiskey.

2011-11-09T15:37:00.007-06:00

Spirit Whiskey.

It's a new term to most people. It even has a good sound too it, like it might be something great.

It's not.

Unless you're a vodka drinker. But in that case, you probably should just stick to vodka.

It's up to you.

The web site for new Kansas Clean Distilled Spirit Whiskey says, "You won't find rednecks in overalls or middle-aged men in tweed flat caps anywhere near a bottle of Kansas Clean Distilled Whiskey." Instead, the web site shows you pictures of hip, attractive, 20-somethings who supposedly drink this new product.

Other brands trying to catch this wave are American Spirit Whiskey and WhipperSnapper Oregon Spirit Whiskey.

These companies didn't invent 'spirit whiskey.' It has been in the federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits (that's the official federal regulatory rule book) all along. It just hasn't been made much in recent years. There's a good reason for that.

The rules define 'Spirit Whiskey' as a combination of at least 5 percent whiskey and neutral spirit, i.e., vodka. That may sound a little like blended whiskey, except there the minimum is 20 percent whiskey and the whiskey has to be straight whiskey, meaning whiskey that has been distilled below 80 percent alcohol and aged for at least two years in new, charred oak barrels.

So consider Seagram's Seven, an American Blended Whiskey. It is 25 percent straight whiskey and 75 percent grain spirit (i.e., vodka with a few months in wood). Some people like that sort of thing, but most whiskey drinkers consider it brown vodka. Similar to Canadian whisky, it has a very mild whiskey flavor with strong vanilla notes. It's not ghastly, it's just very mild and superficial.

In the marketplace, American blended whiskey is an inexpensive, inoffensive alcohol delivery system. Typically sold in plastic 1.75 liter bottles, most go for less than $20, about the same as vodka.

For spirit whiskey, the whiskey component can be straight whiskey but it doesn't have to be. It just has to meet the very low threshold requirement for whiskey, which is itself damn near vodka.

So if it sounds like spirit whiskey is vodka with a tiny little bit of something that is barely but still technically whiskey added to it, it's because that's exactly what it is.

Spirit whiskey was put into the regs right after Prohibition, at a time when fully-aged whiskey was scarce and vodka was virtually unknown. It was a way to make something called whiskey that required very little whiskey to make. When fully-aged whiskey became readily available, spirit whiskey died out.

What's the point of reintroducing spirit whiskey? The premise seems to be that vodka drinkers want to keep drinking vodka, but want to call it whiskey. Spirit whiskey allows you to pour virtual-vodka from a bottle that says 'whiskey' on it, if that is what your self-image requires.

Unlike blended whiskey, which is at least a good value, these new products are all trying to position themselves as premium and are priced accordingly. For the same price you can get a decent whiskey or, for that matter, a decent vodka.

The Kansas people also say this, "Indeed whiskey is far more exciting than the next trendy vodka."

Sorry, but spirit whiskey is the next trendy vodka.

(Full disclosure: I wear tweed flat caps.)

Spirit whiskey most resembles but is not vodka. It scarcely resembles whiskey. Think of is as whiskey's ghost, an emanation faint and evanescent. It is whiskey's echo. It is not whiskey.

LDI An "Exciting Acquisition," Says MGP CEO.

2011-11-09T11:38:00.000-06:00

Here is an update on the LDI acquisition by MGP, which we first reported on October 21.

MGP CEO Tim Newkirk has this to say in their quarterly financial statement, released today. "Growing our sales into the consumer packaged goods market is our number one priority. We are on the verge of greatly increasing our presence in distilled beverages, specifically bourbon and rye whiskey, with the pending acquisition of Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana. Our integration teams are making significant progress in planning to transition the existing production facilities and their customers as we target completion of this exciting acquisition sometime early in 2012."

Upcoming Whiskey Classes Taught By Me.

2011-11-08T05:00:00.002-06:00

I teach whiskey classes here in Chicago through I Wish Lessons. These are introductory classes and last about a hour.

The next one is a bourbon class next Tuesday, 11/15, at French Accent in the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, on the second floor. French Accent is a new venue for us and since we're usually on the North Side, this will be good for people who prefer a loop location, close to Union Station.

On Wednesday, 11/16, I'm teaching a Whiskey 101 class, in which we'll taste Scotch, Irish, Bourbon and American rye. It's at Fion, 426 W. Diversey.

If they're not sold out, I Wish will sell tickets pretty much right up to the last minute, so contact them if you're interested.

The classes are always held in bars and we always taste four products. You can order food and other beverages, and stay after class for 'extra credit.' It's a fun night out with friends, with a little learning on the side.

I Wish also has many other classes. Their most popular one is sushi rolling.

Here is what I have coming up after next week. None of the locations are set yet. As you can see, we're also trying to get a Tequila class going. Go to the I Wish website to sign up or see what other classes they offer.

Wednesday, 12/7 – Tequila
Thursday, 12/15 – Whiskey 101
Tuesday, 12/20 – Bourbon
Wednesday, 12/21 – Single Malt Scotch

Everything is subject to change.

I Wish also does private classes, so if you have a group that would like to have a whiskey or other distilled spirits tasting with me as your coach, you can arrange that through I Wish too, or contact me directly. (Email is on my profile.)

What Do Terns 'High Rye' And 'Low Rye' Mean?

2011-11-07T11:45:00.004-06:00

The question was posed to me about the rye content of bourbon recipes. "What does the industry mean," the questioner wondered, "when they say 'high' or 'low' rye?"

I answered that 'high rye and 'low rye' are terms used more by enthusiasts than by producers. Four Roses is about the only producer that uses them, and they would probably say 'high rye' and 'standard rye.' The two mash bills at Four Roses are 20% and 35% rye, respectively. Even their 'low rye' is high relative to the rest of the industry, where 12% to 15% rye is more typical.

Buffalo Trace, which also makes two rye-recipe bourbon mash bills, explicitly rejects the high/low terminology. They won't reveal their exact mash bills, but #1 is probably less than 10% rye, while #2 is nearer to the 12% to 15% standard.

Bulleit is one of the few producers that talks about rye content. They use the Four Roses 35% rye mash bill. Old Grand-Dad/Basil Hayden, made by Jim Beam, is the other true 'high rye' mash bill, at about 30%. Their other recipe, the one used for Jim Beam and most of their other bourbons, is about 15% rye.

Dynamic Beverages, a small producer, uses the terms which they picked up from enthusiasts. They get their whiskey from LDI which, as a former Seagram's plant, uses many of the same recipes as Four Roses, and Dynamic uses the term 'high rye,' but the 20% rye recipe is hardly 'low.' Their Redemption Bourbon uses the 35% rye formula while their Temptation Bourbon uses the 20% rye recipe.

Four Roses, LDI, Beam, Buffalo Trace and Brown Forman are the only major distilleries that make two or more different rye-recipe bourbons.

At Brown-Forman, the Woodford/Old Forester recipe is 18% rye, Jack Daniel's is 12% and Early Times is 11%. So they have three different recipes but they're all in the 'typical' range.

While there is no industry standard, I would refer to anything with more than 30% rye as 'high' and anything less than 12% as 'low,' while anything in between is 'standard' or 'typical.'

Are You Doing Enough To Help Buffalo Trace Create The Perfect Bourbon?

2011-11-02T12:37:00.003-05:00

Well, are you?

If not, your next chance has arrived. This month, Buffalo Trace Distillery (BT) will release the third round of Single Oak Project Bourbon, another case of twelve 375 ml bottles, each containing one of the 192 slightly different bourbons created for this project.

This is round three of sixteen. I first wrote about the project here.

Since the first release, nearly 1,000 consumers have posted feedback on the Single Oak Project website, rating some or all of the barrels they’ve tasted. Wheaters from high wood (the top of the tree) are leading, barrels #61 and #127, specifically.

Through this feedback, BT will determine which very specific characteristics bourbon drinkers like best, with a goal of using that information to create a 'Holy Grail' bourbon. The more people who participate, the more useful the results will be.

It’s a very long-term project.

For each release, BT cleverly compresses the number of variables presented, so while the project looks at seven variables, each 12-bottle release deals with no more than three. Therefore, any two bottles will teach you something cool. You can, for example, taste two whiskeys in which the only variable is barrel entry proof. Everything else is controlled for -- everything -- and you can taste the difference.

Although Single Oak Project Bourbon is sold only in the U.S., BT has recorded web site visitors from 31 countries.

This new release explores recipe, wood grain, and barrel entry proof. You can compare rye-recipe bourbon to wheat-recipe bourbon; and barrel entry proofs of 105° (52.5% ABV) or 125° (62.5% ABV), the legal maximum; as well as barrel wood grain rated as coarse, average, or fine.

The suggested retail price is $46.35 per bottle (375 ml), but some retailers are selling Single Oak by the case only.

You have to admire BT’s audacity, first in postulating that bourbon perfection can be attained, then in launching a project to attain it that will take 20 or more years to complete. Like building a medieval cathedral, it's a project to span generations.

Van Winkle Watch.

2011-10-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

The purpose here is not to tell you about the Van Winkle whiskeys. It is to tell people who already know about Van Winkle whiskeys that the fall 2011 release will be in stores before 2011 expires -- barely. Probably just after Thanksgiving. Get friendly with your whiskey monger now.

That's official, from the Van Winkles.

You should know (and this isn't from-them official) that the chronic scarcity of Van Winkle whiskey is a deliberate business strategy, not that there's anything wrong with that. By keeping supply well below demand, the company reduces its selling cost and market risk to just about zero. Nobody pressures you on price when you're on allocation, so profits are protected and predictable. They actually do increase the supply, so their profits do grow, just not by much. It's a very unconventional and conservative business model, probably suitable only for small, family-run businesses.

To reflect a bit afield, the current state of things should have us all thinking about the point at which 'reasonable profits' slips over into 'unconscionable greed.' A company like Van Winkle shows that 'get as much as you can as fast as you can' is not the only way to be successful.

MGP Acquires LDI Distillery.

2011-10-21T13:32:00.000-05:00

LDI, the mysterious former Seagram’s distillery that makes Redemption Rye, Templeton Rye, Bulleit Rye, and several other popular whiskeys, has finally been sold. When the deal closes, its new owner will be MGP Ingredients, Inc. The press release issued today by MGP can be found here.

‘LDI’ is an abbreviation for Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana, which is located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, just west of Cincinnati.

Followers of this space have read about LDI before, such as here and here. A sale has been anticipated for most of this year.

Although MGP has not announced its specific plans for the facility, MGP is a public company so greater transparency is likely going forward. MGP, which stands for ‘Midwest Grain Products,’ is a long-time and well-regarded supplier of grain neutral spirits (GNS) to the beverage alcohol industry. That suggests that they will continue and probably increase LDI’s production and sale of bulk whiskey, which will be welcome news to the many non-distiller producers who rely on LDI for their products.

Based in Atchison, Kansas, MGP has a major GNS distillery in Pekin, Illinois, near Peoria.

MGP is buying the distillery and related assets but not the nearby bottling plant, which is being sold separately. According to MGP, that deal is imminent and the distillery sale is conditional on its completion.

Not mentioned in the press release is another associated asset, LDI’s grain division in Rushville, Indiana.

Knob Creek Rye, Coming Not So Soon.

2011-10-19T18:29:00.000-05:00

I heard from a reader that, at a recent bourbon tasting sponsored by Beam Inc., a company rep mentioned that they are coming out with a straight rye under the Knob Creek banner. Currently, the Knob Creek line consists of two bourbons; the standard expression and a single barrel.

I have confirmed that the rumor is true, but the release is not imminent. Look for it sometime in 2012. It will be a straight rye whiskey, but no other details are available.

Buffalo Trace On Track To Raise $200,000 For Charity.

2011-10-17T10:33:00.003-05:00

Nearly $50,000 has been raised for charity to date through Buffalo Trace Distillery Millennium Barrel auctions. With more than two months and 100 non-profit fundraising events to go, the Distillery hopes to reach its goal of raising $200,000 for charity by the December 31st deadline.

The Millennium Barrel was the last of the twentieth century, filled at Buffalo Trace Distillery on Dec. 31, 1999 and placed in Warehouse V, the world’s smallest bonded aging warehouse, which holds one barrel.

In June of 2011, the company removed the barrel from the warehouse and bottled the whiskey, which yielded 174 bottles. Each Millennium Barrel bottle was packaged in a numbered hardwood showcase box that includes a piece of the historic barrel’s charred oak staves.

Buffalo Trace Distillery then offered all 174 bottles free to non-profit organizations wishing to raise funds for their charity. The only caveat was that the bottles had to be auctioned off by Dec. 31, 2011. Interested parties can check on upcoming charity fundraisers for their chance to obtain this piece of history here.

"Some of these non-profits have found really creative ways to raise money for their organizations," said Kris Comstock, Buffalo Trace Bourbon brand manager.

As an example, Comstock referred to the New York Cares organization that raised $6,255 by offering it as a special door prize only to premier ticket holders to their fundraising event. Several other organizations across the country have upped their dollars raised through similar creative strategies, such as bundling the Millennium Barrel bourbon with other upscale prizes.

"With more than 100 non-profits events still scheduled before the end of the year, we hope to reach our goal of $200,000 for these worthwhile causes," Comstock added.

How Maker’s Mark Was Made.

2011-10-07T22:35:00.002-05:00

Most histories of Maker’s Mark Bourbon mention an early ad campaign, typified by the one above. “It tastes expensive…and is,” was always the headline.

Bragging about how expensive your product is can be a risky tactic, but Maker’s made it work. To understand how, it helps to understand the context.

The first barrel of Maker’s was laid down in 1954. The first bottle was sold in 1959. They were a true independent then, owned and operated by the Samuels family. They were tiny, starting from scratch. They grew slowly but steadily, almost entirely in Kentucky.

Bill Samuels Junior, whose father started the company, has said it is a good thing they were family-owned and independent then because it didn’t make much sense as a business and any real business would have shut them down.

It took, after all, 25 years.

Price was always an issue with retailers, especially in rural Kentucky, who couldn’t imagine why someone would buy an unknown bourbon for $7 a bottle when there were plenty of good bourbons for $6 and less. In the cities, where people routinely paid $7 or more for a bottle of good whiskey, it was scotch they were buying, not bourbon.

Bourbon was the working man’s drink. No one could imagine a bourbon competing directly with scotch or Cognac.

Maker’s was clearly swimming against the current. Because they were so small, they didn’t have much of an advertising budget. But they did have a story, a good one, one that they believed in. They also had a good advertising agency, Louisville’s Doe-Anderson.

Ads like the one above weren’t full-page or color. They were one-quarter page or less, in black and white. The message had to be clear and pertinent. It had to ‘move the needle.’

“It tastes expensive…and is,” launched in 1966, was successful because it under-promised and over-delivered, in an almost back-handed way. The ads said Maker's was expensive, but it wasn't. It was a little pricier than other bourbons but less than most good scotch or other things people might be drinking. The first time you looked at it in a store you were prepared by the advertising for it to be more expensive than it was. Perfect!

With price resistance thus overcome, they could get to sampling, and Maker’s sampled well because it had a different flavor. It genuinely was not a typical bourbon. It had a milder, sweeter flavor, even compared to scotch. It made an excellent first impression, regardless of the taster’s previous drinking experience.

After 1969, whiskey sales collapsed and the rest of the industry was in a race to the bottom. Maker’s stood apart even more. No one in the business believed you could sell bourbon with a quality claim. That was true when bourbon sales were growing and became carved in stone when sales nose-dived. No one took Maker's Mark seriously. It was still a tiny, Kentucky-owned brand.

Ultimately, Maker’s Mark was 'made' by a 1980 article in the Wall Street Journal, which described how it had been discovered by traveling businessmen, who began a word-of-mouth campaign, which led to surging sales and a chronic shortage that persists to the present.

The WSJ article told how Maker’s was making all the right moves, so it’s likely they would have succeeded anyway, but the article sure helped. It can also be said to mark the beginning of the present bourbon revival. Once it was okay to think of bourbon as a quality product, anything was possible.

The independence that had been such a large part of Maker's story was gone in less than a year. People often mistakenly believe small privately-owned companies sell out because they've hit a bad financial patch. Usually it's the opposite. They sell out because they can't afford to finance the growth their success has made possible without help. In 1981, Maker’s Mark was acquired by Canada’s Hiram Walker and Sons.

Now part of the new Beam Inc., Maker’s Mark has become the first super premium bourbon to break the one-million-case sales barrier. Its success has been built on a perfect convergence of smarts and luck. Bill Samuels Jr., since 2010 the company’s hardest-working retiree, has often said that his primary guiding principle has been, “don’t screw it up.”

So far, so good.

Cowdery Farms Three Sisters Pizza.

2011-09-30T17:20:00.003-05:00

While my wrist heals, I'll have other family members carry some of the freight here on the blog. One benefit of having an unusual surname is knowing that most other people who have it are related to you in some way.

In this case, Larry and I share Ethan Cowdery (1788-1848), whose parents brought their family to Southeastern Ohio in 1808 from Hartland, Connecticut. Ethan was my great-great-great-grandfather.

The family settled in what is now Meigs County. Larry's branch stayed. Mine left in about 1886. My link to Ethan, his son Josiah, seems to have forsaken farming for town life. According to Josiah's eldest son, who left, they lived in Coolville, Ohio.

I don't actually know Larry and Kim, although I have corresponded with them and with Larry's parents. This is a story about a pizza made with vegetables grown on their farm.

Beam Announces Two New Red Stag Flavors.

2011-09-28T02:15:00.000-05:00

The original black cherry flavor Red Stag by Jim Beam was just named to Shanken's 'Hot Prospects' list — the U.S. market’s most promising wine and spirits growth brands. Winners (announced in Shanken's Impact Newsletter) must have annual depletions of at least 50,000 cases and no more than 200,000 cases, while having achieved at least 15% growth in 2010 and solid progress in the two years prior to that.

A total of 72 brands are on this year’s list, 28 of which sold more than 100,000 cases. Several are likely to pass the 200,000-case threshold and enter Impact “Hot Brand” territory by year-end—including Red Stag,

So, naturally, having proved flavored bourbon is a viable segment, Beam is preparing to release two new flavors. Here's what Rob Mason, Director, U.S. Bourbons, Beam, had to say in an email received yesterday.

"Red Stag Black Cherry by Jim Beam has been one of our greatest success stories in years, and it helped us pioneer a new segment in the category. Now we’re adding two new members to the herd! Coming in early 2012, we’re extremely excited to announce the launch of not one, but TWO new Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys infused with natural flavors: Red Stag Honey Tea and Red Stag Spiced."

This also marks a new policy by Beam. Last year it got silly when they fully announced Knob Creek Single Barrel to the trade but wouldn't confirm it for the consumer press. These days you just can't keep something like that bottled up, and Beam seems to have figured that out. Good for them. Smart companies learn from their mistakes. (Hear that, Diageo?)

Detour For Kentucky Visitors.

2011-09-23T10:59:00.005-05:00

As I told you last month, fall is a great time to visit bourbon country, but there is a ground transportation problem you need to know about.

One of the three Ohio River bridges at Louisville, the Sherman Minton (I-64), is closed for repairs for the foreseeable future. This is an unplanned, emergency closure, so detour plans are being improvised.

Traffic is mainly being diverted to the John F. Kennedy Bridge (I-65), which is leading to long backups on it, depending on time of day, especially for drivers trying to access I-64 or I-71 on the Kentucky side. My tip is stay to the left as you cross and exit at either Liberty Street or St. Catherine Street, and take surface streets back to the interstate. You'll need a good map, of course, but it's pretty easy.

As for alternatives, there are bridges between Cincinnati and Louisville at Lawrenceburg and Madison, Indiana. The next one south of the Sherman Minton (I-64) is the Matthew E. Welsh Bridge at Brandenburg, KY. These are two lane bridges not directly connected to any interstate and, as such, probably won't be the publicized detours.

Brandenburg is an especially good choice if you are coming from the west and heading to Bardstown or anywhere south of Louisville, as it is just west of Fort Knox. Work your way from there to Elizabethtown, where you can pick up the Bluegrass Parkway to points east.

There is also the William Natcher Bridge at Owensboro, KY, which is new and a real beauty.

These detours have the added benefit of taking you through some very scenic countryside and while the roads aren't interstates they are generally pretty good.

The third bridge at Louisville, by the way, is just west of the Kennedy. Officially it's the George Rogers Clark Bridge but locals call it Second Street Bridge. It might be an alternative. It's easy to find on the Louisville side (just go north on Second Street), a bit harder in Jeff (local shorthand for Jeffersonville, Indiana).

The New Normal At Stranahan's.

2011-09-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

I am pleased and relieved to report that things seem be settling down and returning to normal at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey.

Even though it’s a new normal, that’s good news for everybody.

Proximo (the new owner) is now talking and so is Jess Graber, Stranahan’s founder and chief brand ambassador. Graber was willing to share a little more than the ‘nothing will change’ mantra that has been the answer to every question for the past year.

This follows the departure of Jake Norris in August and his replacement as distiller by Rob Dietrich, who had been assistant distiller for the past five years. Pete Macca is the new general manager. Graber will continue as brand ambassador but won’t be directly involved in day-to-day operations or sales.

Asked by Sean Kenyon on Westword why he left, Norris replied, “I am not one to hang around and watch someone bridle a wild pony.”

Kenyon’s interview with Norris is a good capsule of the whole Stranahan’s saga.

Here is the even shorter version. Stranahan’s, located in Denver, Colorado, is one of the pioneers of American micro-distilling, especially micro whiskey-making; and one of the early success stories. Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is unique, distinctive, and very drinkable. It is malt whiskey aged for at least two years in new, charred, standard-size (53 gallon), white oak barrels.

Just about a year ago, the grapevine began to buzz with rumors about a sale, either impending or consummated, of Stranahan’s to Proximo, a small company itself but a much bigger one than Stranahan’s. By the end of 2010 the sale was confirmed through evidence in the public record, such as the transfer of intellectual property. Neither party had said a word.

Eventually an anonymous Proximo executive and an uncharacteristically terse Jess Graber made statements. Then silence. Word came from retailers that Stranahan’s whiskey was becoming scarce in Colorado, and impossible to get elsewhere. In June, Macca announced that Kalamath Street would triple its capacity by the end of the year.

Last Wednesday, Elwyn Gladstone, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Proximo, introduced himself. “We're doing great things with Stranahan's,” he wrote. “Major investment in new stills, more barrels and in the infrastructure of the building.”

Asked why the sale, a year-old at this point, went down the way it did, he replied, “We are a (very) privately held company and as such, we never discuss any of our acquisitions or other business transactions. It’s just our policy – nothing sinister.”

So no harm done? That, apparently, is a matter of opinion.

Sensing my dissatisfaction, Gladstone suggested an interview with Graber.

I have known Jess Graber for a few years, not well but we have talked whiskey a few times. He says the sale will enable Stranahan’s to implement his 10-year plan in about a year. He says both sides wanted secrecy and a formal announcement just never got made.

You still won’t find anything about it on the Stranahan’s web site.

Graber believes the tight supply is because Proximo wants to build up a finished goods inventory so they can deliver a more steady and reliable supply going forward. He concedes that when he was running things, he sold whatever they could put into bottles, as fast as he could, until it ran out.

By the end he was selling it in 36 states. Proximo has retrenched into Colorado, Chicago, and New York City.

On the barrel goods side, they are trying to build up inventory of older whiskey so they can increase production without changing the product. The Stranahan’s we know and love contains whiskey that is three, four and five years old, in very particular proportions. Graber says that mix won’t change and every drop will be made at Kalamath Street so long as he is on the payroll.

When Proximo feels they have enough product to sell that they need to promote it, Graber will go back out as brand ambassador. “For now I’m happy not being on the road 200 days a year,” he says.

One-Handed Typing Sucks.

2011-09-19T16:57:00.000-05:00

I broke my wrist a few days ago, so posts may be less frequent and definitely shorter until it gets fixed. Too bad, because I have quite a bit to tell you, from the Bourbon Festival and beyond.

I'll get it all written and posted eventually.

Now I know what they mean about the one-armed paper hanger.

Whiskey For Dummies, By Dummies.

2011-09-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

I was having some fun with friends recently, counting the number of mistakes per paragraph in Whiskey for Dummies, part of that ubiquitous series. Perhaps, someone quipped, they have started a new sub-imprint called “For Dummies, By Dummies,” acronym “FDBD.”

The book is simply bad, as in mistake-ridden. Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of whiskey can play this game. I had a lot of fun with the definition of 'sour mash.' That short paragraph contains at least seven errors.

Unfortunately, we can’t take the author to task because he died two years ago. His name was Perry Luntz. Apparently he was a big wine guy. Good for him, but he had no business writing a book about whiskey.

Despite Luntz’s demise, misinformation, it seems, is eternal. An obituary of Luntz by Ron Kapon, who calls himself The Peripatetic Oenophile (www.ronkapon.com), contained this personal note: “I have quoted his Whiskey and Spirits for Dummies book in several magazine articles and use it as a texbook (sic) for one of my classes.”

As a French vintner might remark, “Quel dommage.”

Proximo Is Not That Big.

2011-09-10T05:00:00.021-05:00

As I posted here on Tuesday, I have followed with interest the saga of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, which was sold by its founders about a year ago to Proximo Spirits. I think it's a cautionary tale for any current or prospective micro-distillers, as Stranahan's was one of the success stories of this young industry.

But I have to take issue with one small fact that has been widely reported. Many of the articles in Westword and elsewhere describe Proximo as "a big company" or, even, "a huge company." Everything is relative, of course. Proximo is certainly much bigger than the independent Stranahan's was. But Proximo is not a big company.

Proximo is a young company, about three years old. It is private so detailed information about it isn't readily available, but in the distilled spirits business it would be called a specialty or niche producer. It has a range of products in some currently-popular segments (tequila, rum, vodka, whiskey), all of which are premium-priced, hence very profitable for everyone in the distribution chain, from producer to retailer, even if sales volume is small.

None of its products are household names or category leaders, although it is currently spending about $18 million dollars to make its 1800 Tequila brand more recognizable. There are a lot of companies like Proximo in the beverage business. They thrive on the desire of bars, mostly, to carry something the guy next door doesn't have. Sometimes they luck out and one of their brands goes major, as Jagermeister and Grey Goose did for Sidney Frank; but overall, in dollar and volume terms, they are not big companies nor big players in the distilled spirits business.

Proximo isn't a pimple on Diageo's ass.

The size of Proximo isn't really the point. What's fascinating about this story is that the PR was handled about as badly as possible, and we still have no idea why or what really happened. Craft distilleries thrive by developing an intimate relationship with both their trade and end-user customers. Their openness, transparency, and accessibility is what distinguishes them from the majors. They are invariably and proudly local. That's what they can do that a major cannot.

Stranahan's excelled at this. I never met George Stranahan, but Jess Graber and Jake Norris were terrific brand ambassadors. Graber, who made that his primary job, was very good at it and cultivated an appropriate Colorado cowboy image. You could always spot him at a WhiskeyFest or ADI convention.

Then the sale went down. There was no warning and no announcement. A few months earlier, I interviewed Graber about Stranahan's future plans and he gave me a detailed five-year projection that said nothing about selling the company. People like me and the folks at Westword figured it out when things like trademarks began to be transferred, which is a matter of public record.

Then Graber and Stranahan disappeared. Graber sent me a new email address, but he hasn't responded to any inquiries sent there. Norris hung around until a couple weeks ago, but was close-mouthed. The Proximo folks never said much either. All anyone will say is "nothing will change, it's going to remain the same great product it has always been," which really isn't enough. You don't have to go very far to hear the disappointment from the bar owners and others, mostly in Denver, who supported the brand from its earliest days.

They aren't upset because it was sold. They are upset because they were kicked to the curb in the process.

By contrast, Tuthilltown in New York, one of the other bright stars in the micro-distillery firmament, sold its Hudson Whiskey brand to William Grant & Sons a few months before the Stranahan's sale. Both companies announced it, I wrote about it, nobody left Tuthilltown, there were no mysteries, no hard feelings, and it has been an overall very positive transition.

Perhaps Stranahan's can recover from this, but Proximo is virtually starting from scratch to rebuild the brand image. They have squandered most of the goodwill and 'ownership' feeling Graber and Norris built up over the years among the people who matter most, the loyal bartenders and drinkers of Denver.

What does Proximo think it bought? A name? A recipe? A production facility? In the past year, Proximo has shown they don't value at all what the old guard at Stranahan's valued most, the loyalty and affection of their local community. That's a shame.

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival Is Next Week.

2011-09-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

Technically, the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky, starts Monday. Not much happens before Friday, though, which is when the only festival-like part opens up; the booths, rides, and food stands on the Spalding Hall lawn. Most everything before that is a ticketed event.

To refresh your memory about how I regard the festival, read this post from June.

I'll probably go down on Wednesday. Before I head to Bardstown I'm going to check out the new Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

The Festival gets a lot of well-deserved criticism from me, but I always go. My favorite official event -- one that is both public and free -- is the barrel rolling competition. It takes place on Saturday morning on a sports field adjacent to the festival grounds.

Teams from the different area distilleries compete in events that closely mimic how full barrels are managed in the aging warehouses. Barrels used in the competition are the same barrels they really use, only empty.

There usually are some master distillers hanging around, cheering on their teams. It's a lot more fun and authentic than the stupid prom on Saturday night that is supposed to be the Festival's signature event.

If you're in the area, like within a couple hours drive, it wouldn't be crazy just to run down there as a day trip to check it out. Even on the weekend, when the festival is at it's peak, getting in and out and around in Bardstown isn't too difficult.

Woodstock it's not.

You can even make an overnight stay a spur-of-the-moment decision. You probably won't be able to find a room in Bardstown proper, but there are tons of lodging choices at every exit on I-65 near there that will have vacancies.

Stranahan's. Another Shoe Drops.

2011-09-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

If you've been following the Stranahan's saga like I have, you'll want to read the latest in Westword.

The news? Distiller Jake Norris has followed founders Jess Graber and George Stranahan out the door.

Beam Maybe Not In Play After All.

2011-09-06T13:56:00.001-05:00

As I have written about here before, and also in the current (No. 97) issue of WHISKY Magazine, Fortune Brands will shortly become Beam Inc., a pure-play spirits company as opposed to a diversified conglomerate.

Ever since this plan was announced, industry observers have speculated that some rival will almost immediately acquire Beam Inc. and take it apart. The folks at Beam haven't commented but one can assume that is not what they have in mind. I have always said that such an outcome is not as likely as many people think.

Just-Drinks speculates that the price would be about $9 billion. Now Just-Drinks is also reporting that the two most likely suspects, Diageo and Pernod, both say they are not interested, at least not for the foreseeable future.

Diageo is devoting its resources to developing markets, such as China; while Pernod is still trying to reduce the debt it took on to buy Absolut three years ago.

Many factors bear on whether or not any public company will become a takeover target. A big one will be how Beam Inc. stock trades when it is finally on the Big Board without golf balls and faucets holding it back.

News From Templeton Rye.

2011-09-06T11:20:00.001-05:00

Here is some news from Templeton Rye President Scott Bush that came by way of their email newsletter. I thought it interesting enough to pass along.

Templeton has taken a lot of heat for not being able to keep up with demand in its home market of Iowa while it tries to expand into other areas. To rectify this, they announced they will greatly increase their monthly allocation to the State of Iowa in October, November and December, "so you should have an easier time finding a bottle of The Good Stuff for the holidays."

They say they are on pace to sell 22,000 cases in Iowa in 2011, up from 7,100 in 2010. This is one of the first tangible numbers I've seen for Templeton's sales. Twenty-two thousand cases of a premium whiskey in a smallish market like Iowa is pretty impressive. Whatever else Templeton might be, they are effective marketers.

Bush also points out that Templeton is only sold in four states: Iowa, Illinois, New York, and California. They are a pretty big deal here in Chicago, so they are in my face more than they are for most people. They've been in New York and California for less than a year and their distribution there is pretty much limited to high-end bars in New York City and San Francisco.

The news about that is that they don't intend to add any more markets until at least 2014.

Since this is Templeton, I can't resist a small dig.

Their email newsletter is called "Straight From The Still." That's a laugh since the still in which every drop of Templeton Rye is made is not even in Iowa and is not owned by them. Every drop of Templeton Rye is and always has been made at LDI in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. That's why Templeton has supply problems, they are limited by how much whiskey LDI has to sell.

Templeton is bottled in Templeton, Iowa, and at least some of it is partially aged there as well. They also claim, in one of their videos, that they throw some rye grain grown on Templeton-area farms into the hoppers at LDI.

Revised TTB Rules? Be Careful What You Wish For.

2011-09-05T04:46:00.006-05:00

Some craft distillers are frustrated by the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, a set of labeling rules enforced by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the Treasury Department. They think the rules squelch creativity and should be changed.

This is a story about an effort more than 40 years ago to do exactly that. It was supported by some of the largest and most powerful companies in the distilled spirits business. There were no micro-distilleries then, but those arguing against the proposals were the relatively smaller, family-owned distilleries that specialized in straight bourbon, straight rye, and Tennessee whiskey.

It was a battle between modernizers and traditionalists, and the traditionalists won.

The changes were proposed in response to foreign competition. The argument was that the whiskeys of Scotland, Ireland, and Canada had significant cost advantages because they were generally distilled at much higher proof (ABV), entered into barrels at higher proof (ABV), and aged in used barrels.

American producers could make a similar product, but the rules required them to label it in ways that diminished its marketability. There were certain terms they were not allowed to use in regard to such a product, such as ‘straight bourbon whiskey’ and ‘straight rye whiskey;’ and certain terms they were required to use, such as ‘aged in used cooperage.’ The imports merely had to be labeled here the same way they are labeled in their home countries.

So the big companies tried to get the Federal government to change the rules, so they could make American whiskey more in the foreign style, but still label it ‘straight bourbon,’ etc.

They wanted the top distillation proof raised from 80% ABV to 95% ABV, and the rules regarding maximum barrel entry proof and new charred oak barrels eliminated altogether. They wanted to relax the standard for straight whiskey to permit blends of straight whisky, even of different types, to be labeled as straight whiskey without the words ‘blend’ or ‘blended.’ One petitioner wanted a new rule requiring a minimum aging period of two years, another proposed a four-year minimum.

In January, 1968, the agency rejected most of the proposals and explained its reasoning in a nine page Industry Circular (No. 68-03).

It said that spirits made in the proposed way would “generally lack the distinguishing characteristics of such whiskies.” To call these products ‘straight bourbon’ or ‘straight rye’ would be misleading and not “in the interests of the consumer.”

The agency found that higher distillation proof “produces a distillate containing less pronounced natural flavoring components (both desirable and undesirable ones).”

On the minimum age requirement proposals the agency observed that, “there are no appreciable amounts of immature whiskies currently being sold,” a statement that is not true today. They did note, however, that “the present regulations protect the consumer by requiring all whiskies less than four years old to bear a true age statement.”

The most surprising fact about the 1968 circular is the extent to which the agency concerned itself with the balance and flavor of American whiskey. Although the regulators usually insist that their sole interest is truth-in-labeling, not quality per se, that does not appear to be the case here.

Perhaps there was some tasting involved.

More Thoughts About Elijah Craig.

2011-09-02T19:28:00.009-05:00

Reading back Tuesday's post about Elijah Craig, I got to thinking about it.

Since Collins is the sole source for such a pivotal claim in bourbon history, it bears closer examination. First, Collins (in 1874) uses the term 'bourbon whiskey' without defining it, either there or anywhere else in the book. That suggests he was confident his readers would understand the term the same way he did. Although we don't know exactly what that was, the inclination is to assume that 'bourbon whiskey' meant then what it does now. Did it? Is that a fair assumption? Maybe not.

Second, why did he clearly point to Craig without naming him? If you read the rest of the page, it is what in 1874 may have passed for a light diversion in the midst of a serious enterprise, a sidebar meant primarily to entertain. Therefore, I have always assumed, he was sloppy about it, just making a list from odds and ends in his notes, but not treating it as seriously as he did most of the work. What if I'm wrong? What if he was more purposeful than I've ever suspected? And, if so, what was he trying to say?

Henry Crowgey in his book, Kentucky Bourbon, The Early Years of Whiskeymaking, mentions a 1789 letter from Craig to his legal representative that may shed some light.

In the letter, Craig announces that he has a man from Pennsylvania "coming to make corn." Who was this man, and why was the event so memorable? Are we right to assume that "to make corn" means to make corn whiskey?

Perhaps Collins is coy about naming Craig because he is referring to something done by this "man from Pennsylvania" at Craig's behest, but not by Craig himself.

Craig is usually ruled out as the 'inventor' of bourbon because routine aging in new, charred oak barrels came much later, probably in the mid-19th century.

But maybe Collins is talking about something else. We know Kentuckians were making whiskey from corn before 1789, maybe the 1789 innovation was the deliberate addition of rye to the recipe. Perhaps that was the initial distinction between corn whiskey and bourbon whiskey.

Today, most bourbons contain a little bit of rye, 8 to 15 percent in most cases, to give the beverage a little more flavor and, more to the point, a distinctive flavor that is neither corn whiskey nor rye whiskey, but bourbon whiskey, even with little or no aging. Pennsylvania was known for making rye whiskey just as Kentucky was known for corn. Perhaps this mysterious man at Rev. Craig's fulling mill brought the two together and that is what Collins was really memorializing on his page of 'Kentucky Firsts.'

Fall Is A Great Time To Visit Bourbon Country.

2011-08-31T14:49:00.002-05:00

One problem with visiting distilleries during the traditional summer vacation month of August is that most of them are quiet. Even though modern technology makes it possible to distill year round, and some do, hot weather is unpleasant for the workers so many distilleries shut down for at least a few weeks during the hottest part of the year.

That, of course, means they all start to crank back up in the fall. Buffalo Trace even makes a festival of it. The Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown is always the third week in September, 9/12-18 this year. Although it’s technically all week, most stuff happens on the weekend.

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers Association, will get you to most of the distilleries that give tours. Buffalo Trace and Barton 1792, both owned by Sazerac, give tours but aren’t on the trail. There are also several distilleries that don’t give tours but you can see them from the road.

As important as seeing the distilleries is seeing at least one cooperage (where they make the barrels). Brown-Forman Cooperage, in Louisville, where they build barrels for Jack Daniel’s and other Brown-Forman products, welcomes visitors through Mint Julep Tours. Kentucky Cooperage, in Lebanon, has two public tours a day, no reservations needed. You also get to visit Lebanon, which is charming. I recommend the Cedarwood Restaurant, located just west of the cooperage. It’s a real-deal Kentucky country restaurant, not some city folk’s idea of one.

I also like that Kentucky and Tennessee usually get two or three more weeks of nice weather in the spring and fall than Chicago does. When that first cold hawk (aka Mr. Hawkins) blows in from Lake Michigan, find I-65 and head south.

Elijah Craig Did Not Invent Bourbon.

2011-08-30T14:46:00.002-05:00

Elijah Craig is a brand of bourbon made by Heaven Hill Distilleries. It comes as a 12-year-old or an 18-year-old, both excellent.

Elijah Craig was also a real person, c. 1738-1808, a Kentucky pioneer, community leader, entrepreneur, and Baptist minister.

But he did not invent bourbon whiskey.

The durable but unsubstantiated claim that Elijah Craig ‘invented’ bourbon can be traced to Richard Collins and his 1874 History of Kentucky. Collins does not identify Craig by name, but writes that "the first Bourbon Whiskey was made in 1789, at Georgetown, at the fulling mill at the Royal spring." This claim is included, without elaboration or substantiation, on a densely-packed page of "Kentucky Firsts." Since Craig operated "the fulling mill at the Royal spring" in that year, the "invention" is attributed to him.

There are several major problems with the claim. First, what made Craig's whiskey different from other whiskey made in the region? Second, the Georgetown site was never in Bourbon County, so if the place name and the whiskey have to go together, Craig cannot be the originator. In fact, the name 'Bourbon whiskey' was applied to all whiskey from that region beginning early in the 19th century but the style of whiskey we now call bourbon didn't really evolve until many years later, in about the middle of the century, long after Craig’s death.

The Craig claim has been convenient. His ministerial vocation was played up by wet forces in the run-up to Prohibition. When something has an inventor the story of its origin is much easier to tell, but actual history is seldom so neat. Whatever else it may be, historically the Craig claim is unsupported.

Japan Loves Its Highballs.

2011-08-29T05:00:00.002-05:00

I’m mystified by the current highball craze in Japan. Rather, since I neither speak nor read Japanese, I should say I am mystified by what I’ve read in English about the current highball craze in Japan.

Back in June, Camper English introduced America to Mizuwari, the Japanese highball ritual. First you put ice in a glass and stir to glaze the glass. Then discard any water and add about 1 ½ ounces of whiskey. Stir that 13 ½ times clockwise, fill with soda water and stir another 3 ½ times, also clockwise.

They also sell canned highballs in Japan, so obviously not everyone takes them so seriously.

But this idea that the highball is whiskey and soda water over ice, period, is still a little too particular for me, here in the highball’s country of origin.

In American drinking culture, ‘highball’ is (or was, as this is somewhat archaic usage) just another synonym for ‘drinky-poo.’

It developed at a time when most people drank whiskey of some sort and most drank it diluted in some way, usually just with water. In the old days, most gentle folk liked to take their time getting drunk. The tall glass that is typically used for this simple mixture is called a highball so the drink, such as it is, came to be called a highball too. You could say "whiskey and water," but "a highball, please" would usually get you the same thing.

It’s similar to the Southern habit of referring to any soft drink as ‘Coke.’ If ‘highball’ means anything more than just ‘a drink,’ it means a drink in which whiskey is cut with water, a definition that ultimately was broadened to include ice, sparking water, club soda, ginger ale, lemon-lime soda, and a twist of lemon peel as garnish.

The highball is the un-fussiest of drinks, a distilled spirits version of beer. That’s why it seems wrong to ritualize it. But I’m broad minded about drinking. Do what pleases you.

English also observes that the typical Japanese highball is made with blended whiskey, either Japanese or scotch. The highball as I have described may be made with any whiskey you like, from anyplace. The one I'm drinking right now is Very Old Barton Bourbon, BIB, with lemon-lime soda, and ice, stirred about five times, but really fast, and not so much clockwise as back and forth. I apologize in advance.

Coming Soon: The Bulleit Experience At Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

2011-08-27T05:00:00.004-05:00

Several years ago, at WhiskeyFest here in Chicago, I was chatting with a Diageo executive who opined that they would eventually have to do something about creating a "home place for Bulleit." What's a "home place"? Think of it as a distillery substitute. You can't visit the Bulleit Distillery because there isn't one.

What does Bulleit have to do with Stitzel-Weller? Nothing, except Diageo owns both of them. Stitzel-Weller is the old Van Winkle family distillery. Diageo has owned it for more than 20 years. The distillery itself has been dark since 1992, but they use the warehouses to age bourbon distilled for them by others, and may be using other parts of the facility too.

Although Diageo has never confirmed this, I'm pretty sure Bulleit is aged at Stitzel-Weller.

The Stitzel-Weller Distillery is located just south of Louisville in the suburb of Shively, where there were once dozens of distilleries. It was built just after Prohibition ended and operated for 60 years. Until Maker's Mark it was the only distillery making wheated bourbon. Its brands were Old Fitzgerald, W. L. Weller, Old Rip Van Winkle, Cabin Still, and Rebel Yell, none of which Diageo still owns.

According to the announcement, Tom Bulleit and his team are very excited about this opportunity to share more about Bulleit while giving folks a close look at one of the most legendary distilleries of its time. Stitzel-Weller will also serve as Tom’s place of business when he is in Kentucky.

I haven't been inside the fence since 1996, so I'm excited too.

Pappy Van Winkle built Stitzel-Weller to be a showplace as well as a working distillery. It is great that this important landmark will be preserved and people will be able to experience it.

They haven't announced when it will be open to the public. I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

Micro-Distillers And The "Just Till We Get Going" Trap.

2011-08-25T08:07:00.007-05:00

One of the recurring themes among new micro-distillers is: "We're going to make vodka just to get going, but what we really want to make is whiskey," or its variation, "We're going to buy and bottle bulk whiskey just to get going, until we can make and age our own."

So simple, so reasonable and, therefore, so alluring. But is it realistic?

After observing this pattern for the past half-dozen years or so, I have concluded that when new micro-distillers say that is their plan, they are in most cases either lying or naive.

Why is the "Just Till We Get Going" strategy a trap? Two reasons.

(1) People seem to think it's easy to build up a profitable business making and selling vodka, or buying and bottling bulk whiskey, as if you can work on that for a few minutes, just until the cash starts to roll in, and then go do what you really want to do. Not only will the business practically run itself, it will bring in enough revenue to fund the whiskey program.

Well, it's not easy. What's more, you can work very hard for a long time, become successful, and discover you're in a completely different business than the one you wanted to be in, no closer to realizing your dream than you were when you started.

(2) If you want to make whiskey but intend to start with a bulk product, you'll never be able to transition to whiskey you made yourself because it will never be the same or even similar enough to make such a transition. If you try to do both you risk diluting your brand and confusing your customers.

Great Lakes is a micro-distillery but they recently released a product that combines bourbon made by a major Kentucky distillery with malt whiskey made at Great Lakes. St. George has announced a similar project. This can work for them because they are established, have distribution channels, and have loyal customers. They have a receptive audience for anything they choose to produce, whether it's made by them or not. They can be perfectly honest about what they're doing and the vast majority of consumers, who don't pay very close attention, will still assume they made it because they have a reputation as micro-distillers.

But what about examples of startups that began that way? Templeton Rye has been around for six years and when they finally admitted the product isn't theirs, they said they were going to use bulk whiskey just until their own whiskey was old enough to bottle. In reality, they have made no effort to replace their LDI-made whiskey, though they have stopped pretending that they ever will. They have even admitted that, if they wanted to make it themselves, they would need a completely different distillery than the one they have in Iowa now.

High West's highly acclaimed Rendezvous Rye is a similar story. High West is now selling products it made, but they will never replace the current Rendezvous Rye, a bulk whiskey product, with whiskey made by them in Utah.

Last month I told you that Michter's plans to build a micro-distillery in Louisville. Even if, after aging, they mix their house-made whiskey with their sourced whiskey, the ratio will be 10 to 1 or more, a drop in the bucket. The Louisville project is a way to give a company that doesn't have a distillery a symbolic one.

Another example is the Pogue family. Old Pogue has been on the market for seven years and just this year the Pogues are beginning the process of obtaining necessary permissions to start a very small (25-50 gallons a week) distillery in Maysville, Kentucky. Old Pogue has, by all evidence, been a successful product and, as such, sells a lot more than you can produce at a rate of 25 to 50 gallons a week. In fairness, they don't claim they are starting the distillery to produce the current Old Pogue Bourbon. They just want to bring whiskey making back to Maysville, where the family's historic distillery was located.

Aspiring micro-distillers, take note. The Pogues have come nearest to realizing some version of the "Just Till We Get Going" dream and it will, if all goes according to plan, have been a decade-long project the day their first drop comes off the still.

The Rufus M. Rose House Is For Sale.

2011-08-22T16:16:00.000-05:00

Then

The Rufus M. Rose House is for sale.

Once valued at more than a million dollars, it was recently foreclosed and the bank has it listed for $315,000. They’ll probably take less.

Its significance, for our purposes, is that Rufus Mathewson Rose founded the original Four Roses Distillery. That claim is not universally accepted, however, as the present owners of Four Roses Bourbon only acknowledge its history back to Paul Jones, who brought the name from Atlanta to Louisville in 1884.

The Jones family built Four Roses Bourbon into a major national brand. For reasons unknown, Jones and his successors never acknowledged the Rose family, although they did claim that the Four Roses name was in use in Georgia as early as the 1860s.

As the Rose family’s version is told, the original "Four Roses" were Rufus Rose (1836-1910), his brother and business partner, and their respective sons who were also in the business. Four guys named Rose, hence "Four Roses."

Not very sexy.

The R. M. Rose & Co. Distillery was located twelve miles northwest of downtown, on Stillhouse Road in Vinings, Georgia. The Roses sold their whiskey through a chain of Atlanta-area stores that also sold tobacco.

Since whiskey brands, as such, were only just coming into existence in the last few decades of the 19th century, it’s possible Jones acquired some kind of rights from the Roses but it was Jones, not they, who first registered Four Roses as a national trademark in 1888.

The “official” (per the City of Atlanta) history of the house says the Roses were still making Four Roses Whiskey as late as 1907, when Georgia went dry and they moved to Tennessee, after which their trail grows cold. That claim, obviously, is inconsistent with the Paul Jones Company timeline.

Now

The house is prominently located on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta and is one of the few single family homes left in that neighborhood. It has five bedrooms, three baths, and 5,700 sq. ft. It is right next door to a Gladys Knight Chicken and Waffles location. If you want to find the listing, search the street address: 537 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30308.

According to the Atlanta Preservation Center, the 1901 house was designed by Atlanta architect Emil Charles Seitz Sr., in the Queen Anne style. For more than 50 years (1945-1998), it was the home of the Atlanta Museum, a privately-owned museum established by James H. Elliott, Sr. to display his eclectic collection, which included furniture belonging to Margaret Mitchell and a Japanese Zero war plane. It was the headquarters of the Atlanta Preservation Center from 1999 through 2001. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as an Atlanta Landmark Building.

The Atlanta Urban Design Commission calls it “the sole survivor in the central business district of [the] era of grand residential development and is an invaluable part of our cultural heritage. It conveys a sense of residential Peachtree at a time when streetcars, not automobiles, determined the patterns of residential development and its importance as such cannot be overstated.”

The previous owner’s restoration plans fell through and Central Atlanta Progress, a private nonprofit community development organization, estimates it will take about $500,000 to whip it into shape as an office building or restaurant.

A better idea would be for Four Roses to buy it, restore it to its original glory, and operate it as a tourist attraction, which would also tastefully promote Four Roses Bourbon.

If you drink Four Roses Bourbon and think this is a good idea you might want to suggest it to them. They’d love to hear from you.

Buffalo Trace Distillery Announces Second Release In Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. Collection.

2011-08-18T13:29:00.004-05:00

Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced the second release in the Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. collection. It is a single barrel bourbon aged in a warehouse built by Taylor in 1881 (Warehouse C).

The bourbon was aged for 11 years, 7 months, and Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof. The recipe is Buffalo Trace rye-recipe bourbon mash #1.

It joins the E. H. Taylor Jr. Old Fashioned Sour Mash Bourbon Buffalo Trace released earlier this year. Availability will be similarly limited. The packaging is also similar, and reminiscent of Taylor’s bottles from nearly one hundred years ago.

E. H. Taylor is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the bourbon industry, fighting for the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. During his lifetime, Taylor implemented several innovative methods still used today by Buffalo Trace, such as climate controlled aging warehouses.

Suggested retail is $59.99 per 750ml bottle.

Beam Unveils New Logo And Names New Bourbons Boss.

2011-08-17T05:00:00.012-05:00

Yesterday was a big news day at Beam Global. They unveiled a new corporate logo (above) and named Christopher G. Bauder as the Bourbon Category Business Team (CBT) General Manager.

Bourbon whiskey is Beam’s largest and best-performing category. Beam is the world’s largest producer of bourbon. The company’s flagship brand, Jim Beam, sells six-million cases a year. Maker’s Mark sells more than one million.

In the past two years, Beam has also innovated within the Bourbon category by introducing new products such as Red Stag by Jim Beam, Maker’s 46, Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve and, most recently, Jim Beam Devil’s Cut.

“With his extensive global brand building and sales experience, Chris Bauder is positioned to take our Bourbon portfolio to the next level,” said Bill Newlands, Beam president, North America. “Bourbon is our number one, single largest category at Beam, and I’m confident that with Chris’ leadership we’ll continue to revolutionize within our portfolio and drive other industry trends.”

Before joining Beam, Bauder served as S.C. Johnson’s Vice President Marketing, International Markets. He was 17 years at Johnson. Bauder has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from Marquette University.

While I’m disappointed that such an important position is going to someone with no bourbon experience, that’s pretty typical of the way Beam hires and promotes. Beam is now the world’s fourth-largest premium spirits company, with 10 of the world’s top-100 premium spirits brands in its portfolio. The fact that it is primarily an American whiskey company is good for American whiskey enthusiasts.

The new logo reflects this. It also reflects the fact that people have always called the company “Beam” regardless of its actual name. The new name and logo will take effect as soon as the separation from Fortune Brands is complete, sometime in the new few months.

The new corporate logo is based on Jim Beam’s actual signature. This has more historic significance than the company may even know. Late in the 19th century, when brands were first becoming important in the American whiskey business, legal protection for trademarks was very weak. Legal protection against forgery was much stronger. Starting with Hiram Walker, many producers reproduced their personal signatures prominently on their labels, and encouraged their customers to look for the signature to ensure authenticity.

Producers who followed Walker’s lead included George Garvin Brown, E. H. Taylor and James E. Pepper. Unscrupulous producers could copy a name or label with impunity, but not a signature.

The Beam family has no significant ownership stake in the company and there are no Beam family members in senior management. “Our new corporate identity is simple, authentic, memorable and is the perfect reflection of our commitment to the Beam family’s pioneering vision established more than 216 years ago,” said Matt Shattock, Beam president and CEO.

Upcoming Whiskey Classes Taught By Me.

2011-08-16T05:00:00.008-05:00

I teach whiskey classes here in Chicago through I Wish Lessons. Tonight I'm teaching Introduction to Single Malt Scotch at Pitchfork (2922 W. Irving Park Rd.) at 7:00 PM. If they're not sold out, I Wish will sell tickets pretty much right up to the last minute so contact them if you're interested.

The classes are held in various north side bars. We always taste four products. You can order food and other beverages, and stay after class for 'extra credit.' It's a fun night out with friends, with a little learning on the side.

I Wish also has many other classes. Their most popular one is sushi rolling.

I Wish prefers the term 'coach' to 'teacher' or 'instructor.' I usually 'coach' everybody as a group for about an hour, then hang around for individual one-on-one 'coaching.' Class size is typically 10 to 25 people. It's all very relaxed and informal and the students usually determine the course of events through their questions.

Here is what I have coming up. Go to the I Wish website to sign up or see what other classes they offer.

Tue, Aug 16 -- Single Malt Scotch (Pitchfork)
Wed, Aug 24 -- Whiskey 101
Mon, Sep 19 – Bourbon
Thu, Sep 22 – Scotch
Thu, Sep 29 – Whiskey 101

The other locations haven't been set yet but we're usually at Pitchfork (2922 W. Irving Park Rd., just west of California) or Rocks Lincoln Park (1301 West Schubert Avenue, at Lakewood).

Everything is subject to change.

I Wish also does private classes, so if you have a group that would like to have a whiskey or other distilled spirits tasting with me as your coach, you can arrange that through I Wish too, or contact me directly. (Email is on my profile.)

A Weed Grows At Diageo.

2011-08-15T16:57:00.005-05:00

I have two articles in the current issue (number 97) of Whisky Magazine. One of them is about how Diageo has mis-managed its American whiskey portfolio.

One thread that didn’t quite make the final edit was about Jeremiah Weed.

Diageo is a big brands company. Its portfolio includes Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, José Cuervo, Tanqueray, and Crown Royal. Its whiskey credibility comes from owning Talisker, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Lagavulin, and Oban. Its American whiskeys are Bulleit, I. W. Harper, and George Dickel.

Then there is Jeremiah Weed, one of Diageo’s tiniest brands.

Jeremiah Weed stands for the proposition that people buy brands, not categories. As small as it is, Jeremiah Weed has products in at least five different categories: blended bourbon whiskey, flavored blended bourbon whiskey, flavored vodka, liqueurs, and flavored malt beverages.

The official categories are played down, of course. Instead, Diageo divides the six spirits products between “Sweet Tea” and “Bourbon,” and has “Malt Beverages” as a third group. The spirits products are 35% to 50% abv and sold in 750 ml bottles. The malt products are 5.8% abv and sold in 12 ounce and 23.5 ounce cans.

There are nine Weed products in five categories, but everything is sold using the image of the original product, a 50% abv bourbon-based liqueur created in the late 1960s to compete with Southern Comfort. Along the way, it developed cult status among American Air Force jet fighter pilots, a prestigious if tiny market niche. Diageo seems to have rediscovered Weed about three years ago. Every product except the liqueur is new.

“People like the name,” says Yvonne Briese, Vice President Marketing, Whisky, Diageo NA. She describes the image as, “a mixture of bad-ass and Southern gentleman.”

Which sounds like another way of saying, “the Jack Daniel’s drinker.”

In recent marketing efforts, Diageo had created a fictional Jeremiah Weed, who talks from time to time, and a fictional association with Weed, Kentucky. A real place, though just barely, it has no connection with the product or the company.

Except for a major TV campaign for the flavored malt beverages (Spiked Cola, Lightning Lemonade and Roadhouse Tea), most of the marketing for Jeremiah Weed has been in social media and other internet channels. To some extent, Diageo seems to be just running ideas up the flagpole, as the old ad industry saying used to go, to see if anybody salutes them. The company professes to be happy with the results.

Since this blog is usually about American whiskey, I’ll mention that Jeremiah Weed Blended Bourbon and Jeremiah Weed Cherry Mash Flavored Blended Bourbon are half straight bourbon, half vodka; plus cherry flavoring in the Cherry Mash version. The original Jeremiah Weed liqueur and the Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka with Bourbon Whiskey each contain an unknown amount of bourbon, though certainly much less than 50%.

I’ve tried the blended bourbon. It’s not ghastly.

Diageo has one operating whiskey distillery in the United States, George Dickel in Tennessee, which only makes George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey. Diageo’s bourbons and bourbon-containing products use spirit made by other distilleries, though much of it is aged at the old Stitzel-Weller Distillery, which has not distilled anything itself since 1992.

Diageo has so many predecessor companies that tracking any product in its portfolio is like sorting through the Biblical begats. Jeremiah Weed was created by Heublein, which was independent until it was acquired by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco (RJR) in 1982. RJR sold it to Grand Metropolitan in 1987. Grand Met merged with Guinness in 1997 to form Diageo. The big prize in all three deals was Smirnoff Vodka, but Jeremiah Weed went along for the ride.

The Story Of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage.

2011-08-12T16:59:00.001-05:00

In the autumn of 2006, Heaven Hill's Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage series got a bit more interesting. That’s when they unveiled the 1997 vintage.

The 1997 was the first one not made at Heaven Hill’s Bardstown distillery (DSP-31). Heaven Hill continued to make bourbon without a distillery, first at Jim Beam, then at Brown-Forman. In 1999, Heaven Hill bought the Bernheim Distillery from Diageo, where they have been ever since.

In the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped this week, we look at the series from its beginnings 16 years ago, with special emphasis on ‘the wilderness years’ (1997-2001), vintages that are still on store shelves.

The 2002 vintage will be unveiled in October and start appearing at retail in January, assuming the usual pattern.

The August, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 1. In it, we also tell the 201-year story of Old Overholt Straight Rye, and review three micro-distillery whiskeys.

Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.

Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.

Click here for more information.

Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).

Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)

After 207 Years, Bodies Of 13 Americans Still In Libya.

2011-08-11T15:51:00.001-05:00

I've written before, here and here, about my family connection to an obscure bit of American history.

Dr. Jonathan Cowdery's father and my great-great-great-great-great grandfather were brothers. Dr. Cowdery was ship’s surgeon on the U.S.S. Philadelphia, which ran aground while fighting pirates in the Mediterranean Sea. Three-hundred officers and sailors were captured and imprisoned in Tripoli. Thirteen officers and sailors were killed trying to rescue them. Dr. Cowdery identified the remains and supervised their burial in Green Square.

They're still there.

In the earliest of those two previous posts, I linked to a newspaper article that is no longer up. Here, instead, is a link to another account of the story on the "Remember the Intrepid" web site. It is run by Bill Kelly, who knows all about this stuff, especially the part about the remains of the 13 Americans still buried there. Although people in Libya have a lot going on right now, efforts to repatriate the remains continue, according to Kelly.

Triple-S Makes Micheladas Fast And Easy.

2011-08-10T21:24:00.002-05:00

Back in May, I told you about my late-in-life discovery of La Michelada, a beer-based cocktail of which I have become a fan.

I still see my girl, Monique, before every Chicago Fire home game. She’s the only vendor at Toyota Park who makes them. In case you're a Fire fan and would like to try one, she’s behind section 109, just south of the foot long sausage stand.

The term “Michelada” can cover many different preparations. The kind Monique makes is like a beer Bloody Mary.

Shortly after I posted my Michelada piece, I heard from Juan and Sasha Sotelo, who live in Brownsville, Texas, where they make a product called Triple-S Michelada Mix. Monique must be from Brownsville too, because Triple-S is right on the money as far as what I expect from my Michelada.

The Sotelos tell me they’re approaching their one year anniversary and their product is flying off the shelves. They just scored a big contract with H.E.B., a local mega-mart. Good for them, they seem like a nice young couple.

A 32-ounce bottle of Triple-S sells for $7.99 in grocery stores, $8.99 in liquor stores. That’s enough for eight Micheladas, at four ounces of mix to twelve ounces of beer, the ratio they recommend.

They also recommend ice. It gets really, really hot in Brownsville.

Triple-S makes a tasty Michelada, it eliminates the need to buy a bunch of ingredients you might otherwise not use, and it’s quick and easy.

The Sotelos say they’d like to have distribution in Chicago. Maybe I should introduce them to Monique?

Old Anvil Bourbon and Louisville's Mellwood Distillery.

2011-08-09T15:53:00.001-05:00

I received an inquiry today about Old Anvil Bourbon and the results of my brief research are interesting enough to post, so here goes.

General Distillers was the post-1935 name for the Mellwood Distillery, which was established on the northeast side of Louisville in the 1860s by George W. Swearingen. It operated there until 1918, then came back in the same location after Prohibition under the General Distillers name.

The distillery was located on both the east and west sides of Mellwood Avenue between Frankfort Avenue and Brownsboro Road. There were several distilleries located in that same general area, all making use of Beargrass Creek.

Mellwood was a substantial distillery but, typical for the times, it sold whiskey as a commodity to middle-men who owned the brands and handled all of the sales and distribution. Brown-Forman, makers of Old Forester Bourbon, and a company that is still in business today, bought a lot of its whiskey from Mellwood pre-Prohibition.

After Prohibition, many companies like Brown-Forman that had been middle-men before 1920 bought distilleries and stopped buying from companies like Mellwood/General Distillers. Commodity producers like Mellwood/General continued well into the modern era, but were mostly gone by the mid-1980s.

Such companies would sometimes issue their own, small brands -- a ‘friends and family’ proposition for the most part. Old Anvil may have been one of those. They would also produce proprietary brands for customers and even for clubs and other associations, even individuals. Old Anvil may have been created that way.

Most likely Old Anvil was a small, local, short-lived brand, possibly even a one-time thing. Note that the picture above says “bottled by.” This suggests the product was merely bottled there and not actually made there, and certainly suggests third-party ownership. This was just a bottling job, Mellwood/General had no other role. There’s no way to know who made the whiskey, though it was probably one of the other distilleries in the neighborhood.

At its height, Mellwood/General had a distillery, seven warehouses, a bottling hall, and other ancillary buildings. It stopped distilling in the 1960s and continued bottling operations for a few more years after that. I have visited the site and there doesn’t appear to be any trace of it remaining.

It's also possible that "General Distillers Corporation" was later used as an assumed business name by someone, a very common practice in the distilled spirits business, in which case it wouldn't even have been bottled at the Mellwood Avenue facility.

Jack On CNBC Tonight.

2011-08-04T14:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight, cable network CNBC, as part of its "CNBC Titans" series, presents an hour-long documentary about Jack Daniel's. It airs at 10 pm and 1 am ET. There are clips on their website. Also, look on the web site for an article about Jack that quotes me.

Buffalo Trace Release Second Batch of Single Oak Bourbons.

2011-08-02T10:38:00.002-05:00

This week, Buffalo Trace will release the second batch of bourbons produced for the Single Oak Project. If you aren't familiar with the Single Oak Project, go here and here.

This release will explore three different variables, recipe, grain size, and char level. Some of the bottles contain bourbon made with rye and others with wheat. The barrels themselves were made from different trees, each with varying degrees of thickness to their wood grain, from fine to very coarse. These barrels were charred at either a number three or number four char level to determine how the burn will alter the taste. All other variables in the experimental project, such as the entry proof, stave seasoning, tree cut, and warehouse location remain constant.

Grain size was one of the variables in the original release. The other two are new with this release.

The second release is made up of barrel numbers 29, 31, 61, 63, 93, 95, 125, 127, 157, 159, 189, 191.

Old Overholt. Rye Whiskey's Grand Old Man.

2011-08-01T04:32:00.007-05:00

You’ve probably heard about the rye whiskey revival. It’s real, just still very small.

There are several new brands out there, and some old brands have been revived, but there is one — seldom mentioned by many of rye’s new fans and misunderstood by many others — that is the granddaddy of them all:

Old Overholt.

In about 1810, Abraham Overholt (1784-1870) and his brother shifted their family enterprise from general farming, in which making whiskey was a sideline, to making whiskey as a primary occupation. Their farm was about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The business thrived and Abraham brought his sons and then his grandsons into it. The A. Overholt Distilling Company continued to be owned and run by his descendants until it was closed by Prohibition.

Better known than Abraham Overholt or his whiskey is his grandson, Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), one of the great turn-of-the-century American industrialists sometimes known as ‘robber barons.’ Overholt gave Frick his first job.

With his share of the family’s whiskey fortune, Frick began to invest in coal mines. Then he manufactured coke, which is essential for steel production.

Frick’s extraordinary wealth came primarily from steel and railroads, but he got a little of it from whiskey. Under his ownership, Old Overholt became the best selling brand of rye whiskey in the country.

When Prohibition began, the Overholt company obtained a medicinal whiskey license, which made it attractive to Seton Porter when he began to accumulate medicinal permits, whiskey, distilleries, and brands in about 1927 for what became the National Distillers Products Corporation.

After Prohibition, Old Overholt took its place in the National portfolio as their primary rye. Since National was one of the ‘big four’ companies that dominated the post-Prohibition industry, that automatically made it once again the top selling rye whiskey in the country.

But rye whiskey never recovered the share of market it had enjoyed before 1920. The ratio of bourbon-to-rye sales kept shifting in bourbon’s favor until rye was almost extinct. National Distillers eventually closed all of its Pennsylvania distilleries and shifted Old Overholt production to Kentucky, to the Forks of Elkhorn distillery outside of Frankfort where it also made Old Grand-Dad bourbon.

Jim Beam inherited Old Overholt when it merged with National Distillers in 1987. Beam immediately stopped distilling at Forks. When the rye whiskey made there ran out, Beam simply used the rye whiskey it was already making for Jim Beam Rye. Beam has done little with the brand except continue to make and distribute it.

You would expect Old Overholt to taste like Jim Beam Rye and it does. It tastes like it may be selected for more tannic barrel notes, because it has a bit more bite.

Rye production in Kentucky didn’t begin in the 1980s, when the last of the Eastern rye distilleries shut down. Even before Prohibition, Kentucky distilleries like the ones operated by Beam family members routinely made both bourbon and rye, so the Beam rye recipe probably has an old pedigree within the family. The whiskey has its detractors, but it is a legitimate style.

I’ve never had a problem finishing a bottle of it.

The Small Barrel Debate.

2011-07-26T09:31:00.001-05:00

Last month John Hansell, publisher and editor of Malt Advocate, wrote on the subject of small barrel aging, which has become a big issue with micro-distillers, many of whom insist that spirits 'age faster' in a small barrel.

(We're talking barrels in the range of 10 to 30 gallons. A standard whiskey barrel is 53 gallons.)

Hansell, in my opinion, framed the issue correctly. "Do smaller whiskey barrels mature whiskey faster? Or do they just make whiskey taste woody faster?" For some people, those are fighting words, and his post drew over 100 comments.

Here is something I posted on this subject last year.

This topic also comes up regularly over on the ADI Forums, most recently under the subject line of "Charcoal Filtering of Whiskey."

Some of this has to do with language. I'll probably always disagree with someone who says "small barrels age whiskey faster," because it's a claim that one can get the exact same results in less time using small barrels, which is almost certainly false.

The real questions here are: Do small barrels age differently? (Almost certainly, the answer is yes.) And, if they do, how can the spirit so aged be characterized, and are the results good, bad, or indifferent?

One observation on the ADI discussion is that everyone just assumes whiskey aged in small barrels will only get better, that the benefits of the small barrel accrue at every age, and I'm not so sure that's right.

Clearly, the small barrel accelerates extraction, but extraction is just one part of aging, and there is more tannin in that barrel than anything else. That is Hansell's point. Faster tannin absorption means the whiskey may become overaged and bitter sooner. By the time you get the oxidation you're looking for, something which only comes in time, you may have too many extractives. It doesn't necessarily balance out.

As for the Lincoln County Process (the intense charcoal filtering done by Jack Daniel's and George Dickel), distillers in Kentucky quite routinely and unselfconsciously refer to it as 'charcoal leaching.' They, and their counterparts in Tennessee, usually will accept my characterization of it as jumpstarting the aging process, but many in Kentucky feel it ruins the whiskey by stripping out too much flavor.

One drinker's 'smooth' is another's 'bland.'

Marketing Micro Spirits (Or Anything, For That Matter).

2011-07-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

It came up recently on a site frequented by micro-distillers whether or not brand-imprinted golf balls are a good marketing vehicle or a waste of money. After several producers offered opinions, pro and con, I submitted this:

"There are no good or bad marketing tactics. (Giving away branded premiums such as golf balls is a tactic.) There are only tactics that support and advance your brand proposition (good) and tactics that do not (waste of money). The same exact branded golf balls may be a great tactic for one company and a terrible waste of money for another, depending on their brand propositions and strategic plans."

These questions flare up from time to time. What's interesting is that when the question is posed as it was originally -- "Golf Balls, Good or Bad" -- the opinions come flying. Then I make a statement like the one above and the discussion stops. That I seem to be good at closing discussions is interesting but beside the point. The question this raises is, how many of today's fledgling craft distillers have given any real thought to marketing? And how many have any grasp of basic marketing principles?

A few do. In some cases, at least one of the company's principals has a marketing background. Some are just naturals. Salesmanship can be taught but for some it's a matter of instinct. If you have talented sales people in your family or if you have been acquainted with them in a past business relationship, and learned their lessons, you may have a good grasp of the principles without being able to articulate them formally.

But I can tell from some of these discussions that in many cases, the people starting small distilleries haven't given the marketing of their products a second of thought. In a few cases, I've talked to small distillers who are hostile to the very idea of marketing, as somehow contrary to the purity of their endeavor. "A superior product doesn't need marketing."

Good luck with that.

Here are the basics of salesmanship and, by extension marketing, as I have distilled them down from 40 years in the business.

Learn everything you can about your customers and prospective customers.
Listen and let them tell you what they want.
Tell them what you heard.
Give them what they asked for.

Yeah, it is that simple.

Sales, marketing, product development, pricing, and distribution are all pieces to the same puzzle. You can't manage any of them in isolation from the others. Trying to do so is a good formula for failure.

The Stranahan's That Was.

2011-07-10T18:50:00.000-05:00

Even as Stranahan's announces a new plan to triple production so it can once again distribute outside of Colorado, I glanced back at a post I made almost two years ago. In it, Stranahan's was naming a national distributor. The brand was then in 35 states and four foreign countries, and the distributor was going to take them even further.

I'm not criticizing Stranahan's for retrenching. I'm not criticizing them for anything except one pretty terrible sin. They have broken trust with their consumers by not communicating about the changes they've been going through.

That's irrational and potentially fatal. If nothing else, it's going to be expensive to repair the damage.

Keep Vulgarity In Its Place.

2011-07-10T18:33:00.001-05:00

I like vulgarity as much as the next guy, but I'm glad it's not everywhere and I would prefer that it stay out of advertising. Vulgarity has power because it's transgressive, anti-establishment, risky. Nothing sucks the juice out of expression or imagery faster than advertising. Plus advertising is plenty vulgar enough already.

I say this as someone who has worked in advertising for 40 years.

Put the middle finger salute in advertising and pretty soon it will be on the Disney channel.

So that's why I would just as soon that neither Wild Turkey nor Old Crow give me the bird.

For one thing, it's not that funny.

Sort of like Effen Vodka.

Michter’s To Build Micro-Distillery On Louisville’s Whiskey Row.

2011-07-08T05:00:00.003-05:00

Louisville’s newspaper, the Courier-Journal, reported Wednesday that Michter’s Distillery (i.e., Chatham Imports) will invest $7.8 million to renovate the historic Fort Nelson Building at Eighth and Main streets, and establish Louisville's first downtown distillery since before Prohibition.

The big announcement brought out the governor, Steve Beshear; Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer; and the president of Louisville’s Chamber of Commerce, all of whom spoke, along with Chatham president Joe Magliocco.

The site is across Main Street from the Louisville Slugger Museum. Public tours and tastings are scheduled to start in spring of 2013.

Louisville’s Main Street was ‘Whiskey Row’ during the Kentucky whiskey industry’s 19th century heyday. Dozens of companies had offices, warehouses, and rectification facilities there, primarily because it was adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront.

Heaven Hill wasn’t there then but they have had their Louisville offices on Whiskey Row for many years. Louisville-based Brown-Forman, founded in 1870, now has a building there too. Members of the Brown family have privately been leaders in the preservation and redevelopment of the old Whiskey Row district.

The street is architecturally-significant as it has the largest concentration of 19th century cast-iron facades outside of New York City.

It’s a nice, attractive part of downtown with a real feel for Louisville’s history.

For several years, Lincoln Henderson’s Louisville Distilling Company (Angel’s Envy Bourbon) has talked about opening a micro-distillery on Main Street. It hasn’t happened. In this case, too, I'll believe it when I see it. Right now it’s just a ‘plan.’ No details were given.

Assuming it does happen, this is smart strategically for Chatham. This has been a fairly obvious idea, just sitting there, for one of the non-distiller producers to adopt. The idea is to use a micro-distillery to create a ‘home place’ for a non-distiller brand. That’s marketing jargon for a physical location fans of a brand can visit, thereby deepening their relationship with the brand. Brands that have picturesque distilleries, such as Jack Daniel’s, Maker’s Mark, and Woodford Reserve, have that built in. A brand like Michter’s has to create it.

Louisville’s Whiskey Row is not only perfect historically, it also happens to be near many of Louisville’s most popular tourism attractions.

There are several other brands, most notably Diageo’s Bulleit, that should have done something like this but Chatham beat them to it. Good for them.

Something similar was done once before, by Michter’s. In 1976, they installed a micro-distillery at the distillery in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. It was capable of producing one barrel of whiskey per day. It would demonstrate the distilling process to visitors when the big distillery was shut down, which in those dark days it usually was.

That original Michter’s micro-distillery also made news recently, although no big politicians showed up. I told you about that here.

Michter’s participated in the KBF Sampler in Bardstown for the first time this past April, signaling that they intended to establish a Kentucky presence. There they told people that they “moved to Kentucky from Pennsylvania in 1989.” So they still have a lot of the phony-baloney going. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a smart and bold move, and so far they’ve played it well.

Michter’s doesn’t have a distillery but it has a distiller, Willie Pratt, who had a previous association with Brown-Forman. He also participated in Wednesday’s announcement.

The only connection between the current Michter's and the original is the name, which Chatham Imports acquired a few years ago. Chatham is one of those small, non-distiller producers that markets a number of specialized brands. If the main photo on their web site home page is any indication, Michter’s has become their flagship.

Chatham is small but they know the business. They were smart enough to recognize how much the Michter’s name was worth and now they are willing to invest to develop its full potential.

Since reviving the Michter’s brand (not in 1989, 1999 more like it) Chatham has worked with Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) of Bardstown as their whiskey broker, bottler, and DBA. No one at Chatham, nor at KBD, has any connection to the distillery in Schaefferstown.

KBD doesn’t distill either. Heaven Hill is always assumed to be the source of KBD’s whiskey. KBD gets a lot of whiskey from Heaven Hill, which is located right across the street, but KBD’s whiskey comes from other sources as well. People who have been in their warehouses recently report seeing barrels from Barton, Brown-Forman, and other producers.

Chatham doesn’t treat Michter’s like a mere brand name. They foster the illusion that it is a real distillery with roots in the 18th century. Here is the real history.

Michter’s is a brand name created in 1950 by a guy named Lou Forman. He combined the first names of his two sons, Michael and Peter, to come up with something that sounded vaguely Pennsylvania Dutch, which was appropriate for a distillery in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania.

For most of its history the distillery there was called Bombergers, after the family that owned it from 1861 until Prohibition closed it. Forman bought it in 1950 and renamed it Michter’s. He sold it in 1956 and the name was changed to Pennco Distillers. Forman bought it back in 1975 and it was known as Michter’s thereafter, until it closed for good in 1989.

When Chatham executives (or doting Louisville officials) talk about the whiskey given to Washington’s soldiers at Valley Forge, they’re talking about whiskey made at Johann Shenk’s distillery, which was founded on the Schaefferstown site in 1753.

Today the distillery site in Schaefferstown is in ruins.

Why is there so much interest in a little Pennsylvania distillery that has been dead for more than 20 years? So much interest that the mere name seems to have magic in it?

First, it had a genuinely rich heritage, which it exploited through heavy promotion of tourism during the last ten years of its existence. Also during that period it did a big business in collectible decanters. So a lot of people knew about the place.

Second, the master distiller there for many years was Everett Beam, of Kentucky’s legendary whiskey-making Beams.

Third, one of the most lionized bourbons of the last 20 years, A. H. Hirsch Special Reserve, was whiskey made there in 1974.

None of this, of course, has anything to do with today’s Michter’s.

From a production standpoint, the micro-distillery is a gimmick. If they ever use any of the whiskey made there in the mainstream product, it will be a long time in the future and a drop in the bucket. The main thing is that Michter's will have a home place in Kentucky, a valuable marketing asset.

Presumably, since they were able to trot out all of the big dogs for the announcement event, this plan is more than talk. So despite my reservations, especially about the way they continue to play fast and loose with historical facts, I commend Chatham for this move. It’s a bet on bourbon, and I’m all for that.

Bird Fight! Wild Turkey Sues Old Crow.

2011-07-07T15:08:00.005-05:00

On June 21, I told you about the new Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. I also told you about the brand's questionable new advertising campaign, built around the theme "Give 'Em The Bird."

So impressed by their own creative genius are the folks behind this campaign at Gruppo Campari (Wild Turkey's parent company) that they are suing Beam Global for using the line to promote Old Crow Bourbon. Campari claims Wild Turkey has used the slogan since 2006, when the brand was owned by Pernod. Campari bought Wild Turkey in 2009.

Old Crow was, of course, named after Dr. James C. Crow, a pioneering bourbon maker who died in 1856. The name "Old Crow" was used during his lifetime and Old Crow formally became recognized as a brand name not long after his death. The Wild Turkey brand was launched in 1940. That has nothing to do with the trademark case, but it's good to know.

As for which of them gave us the bird first, whichever one it is, I wouldn't brag about it. There is still such a thing as bad taste.

Isn't there?

In other bird-related trademark litigation, Beam Global has sued Diageo for failure to use its Jose Cuervo crow symbol in accordance with a 1997 agreement regarding Old Crow and other crow-related marks owned by Beam.

Stranahan's Peeks Out From Its Shell.

2011-07-01T05:00:00.022-05:00

Stranahan's was one of the first micro-distilleries to penetrate the national consciousness with its Colorado Whiskey, a malt aged in new charred barrels for about three years. Last fall, the Colorado distillery was sold to Proximo Spirits and the company's normally garrulous principals fell strangely silent. I last wrote about the curious affair here, about six weeks ago.

Two weekends ago, Stranahan's disitiller Jake Norris participated in a whiskey and BBQ event that Stranahan's sponsors in Frisco, Colorado. On Wednesday Westword reported that Stranahan's is in the process of tripling its production capacity.

The news was announced by a new player, general manager Pete Macca. The short article reads like a press release and was not written by Jonathan Shikes, who has done most of Westword's excellent coverage of the sudden and mysterious sale.

Distillery founder Jess Graber is still vacationing on another planet.

Algren Reminder.

2011-06-30T15:32:00.000-05:00

There's only about a week left in the campaign on Kickstarter to help my friend Michael Caplan finish his documentary about Chicago writer Nelson Algren. I first told you about it here.

If nothing else, Michael has added a few more cool clips for us to enjoy. Go to the site and click on the Updates tab to view them. The latest is by Rick Kogan.

So watch the new clips and become a movie mogul by making a pledge.

Michter's Barrel-A-Day Distillery In New Home.

2011-06-25T15:53:00.005-05:00

By 1976, Pennsylvania’s struggling Michter’s Distillery was betting heavily on tourism to keep its doors open. To attract visitors during the bicentennial year, they installed a small, historic-scale demonstration distillery in one of the site’s 19th century buildings. Built by Vendome, it was a complete distillery with mash cooker, fermenters, beer still, spirit still, condenser, and all associated tanks and other accessories. It can produce about 50 gallons of spirit a day, enough to fill one standard whiskey barrel.

The barrel-a-day distillery operated at Michter's for the next 14 years. After Michter's closed it sat there for a few years until 1996, when it was purchased by David Beam, who moved it to Bardstown, Kentucky. It was put on display there but never used.

In February of this year it was purchased by Tom's Foolery Distillery in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After a trip to Vendome for refurbishing it was moved to its new home. Tom and Lianne Herbruck put the major pieces in place over Father's Day weekend. They currently make applejack (i.e., apple brandy) but with the new/old stills they also intend to make whiskey.

No decision has been made on an exact start date and, of course, it will be years before they have any aged whiskey to sell, but the Herbrucks tend not to let grass grow under their feet so I expect the first batch will be made sooner rather than later.

The New Reader Is On Its Way.

2011-06-22T11:49:00.000-05:00

The June, 2011 issue (Volume 13, Number 6) of the Bourbon Country Reader is in the mail. This concludes Volume 13, which means it's now available as a bound volume.

Although I try to maintain the imperial 'we' throughout, it's obvious I write most of the Reader stories, but not all of them. This time we're excited to welcome Jerry Dalton, the retired Master Distiller at Jim Beam, and Barton before that. Jerry is a very interesting and thoughtful guy. His essay is mostly about corn but Booker Noe and Baker Beam are in there, as is some musing about what 'Master Distiller' really means.

We also tell the story of Antique bourbon, a vagabond bourbon best known for its years as a Seagram's brand. Born in the 19th century, it died in the 21st. This is about what happened in between.

Plus we review the Four Roses 2011 Limited Edition Single Barrel.

Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.

Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.

Click here for more information.

Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).

Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)

Wild Turkey Unveils New Distillery.

2011-06-21T17:30:00.001-05:00

Although the new Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, has been up and running, and giving tours, for about a month, today was its official unveiling. Executives from Campari, the parent company, were there. So were Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Lawrenceburg Mayor Edwinna Baker.

The capacity of the new distillery, 11 million gallons a year, is more than twice the old one. This expansion was actually planned several years ago but delayed about two years due to the ownership change. The new beer still and doubler are the exact same capacity as the old ones. The increase in overall capacity comes from more and bigger mash cookers and fermenters. The stills may be the same size but they're going to be a lot busier.

The price tag for the expansion is $50 million.

The capacity expansion on Wild Turkey Hill is a good thing, as is the new Wild Turkey 81 (81 proof, that is, parallel to the 101 proof flagship). I've always disdained the 80 proof, brown label expression. This one is a lot better. Unofficial distillery sources report it's the same whiskey as 101, just diluted, whereas the old 80 proof was a much younger whiskey.

Especially if you like the milder proof, 81 is a fine addition to the line.

Less edifying is a new TV commercial they've just released, which encourages people to use a well known rude hand gesture to order 'the bird.' After this triggers a few bar brawls they may reconsider.

The commercial also features a model whose hairstyle is right out of the 70s. What's that about? You can see it for yourself on Facebook.

The picture at top shows Master Distiller Jimmy Russell (left) and Associate Distiller Eddie Russell (Jimmy's son) christening an oversized bourbon barrel at today's official ceremony. The picture below shows a tour group from Cincinnati visiting the new facility.

Four Roses 2011 Single Barrel Limited Edition.

2011-06-17T16:51:00.001-05:00

Referencing back to Monday's allegory, the 2011 Four Roses Limited Edition Single Barrel, released last month, is what happens when Flora gets frisky with the very wry farmer. It's what you get 12 years later, that is.

I reviewed the 2011 Four Roses Limited Edition Single Barrel here.

Meet Bill Samuels, Jr.

2011-06-16T17:54:00.001-05:00

This summer, recently retired Maker's Mark Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels, Jr. will conduct the bourbon tastings that conclude the Kentucky distillery's free public tours. He won't appear at every tasting (they do 39 a week), but his schedule will be posted on the Maker's Mark web site and Facebook page, so you can plan to be there when he is.

(The schedules don't appear to be up yet.)

For those of you who don't know, Bill Samuels, Jr. is a master showman, a true character. Time spent with him is never dull and always entertaining.

The tour takes visitors step-by-step through the bourbon-making process, including the milling, cooking and fermentation of grains; distillation; aging; and a look at Maker’s Mark’s unique dipping line, where every single bottle of bourbon is hand-dipped and sealed in red wax.

Each tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and concludes with a tasting of Maker’s Mark and Maker’s 46. Visitors also have the chance to dip their own bottle of Maker’s Mark at the gift shop.

Bill Samuels, Jr. retired earlier this year after 35 years as president of Maker's Mark Distillery. His father, Bill Samuel's, Sr., started the distillery in 1953. Maker's Mark is owned by Beam Global.

The Maker's Mark Distillery is part of the Kentucky Distillers Association's Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Fairest Rose And The Five Yeasts.

2011-06-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a rose, a rose so blessed with elegance and beauty that it was said she was more fair than any four ordinary roses. Her name was Fairest Rose. One day, while strolling on the forest path, Fairest Rose came to a fork in the road. Five forks, as a matter of fact.

At the foot of each fork stood a tall yeast. From the first two forks, a man and woman stepped forward. The man spoke. "Hello, I'm Herb Yeast." This is Flora Yeast and those three are Big Fruit, Little Fruit and Spicy. Here's how this works."

Herb explained that if Fairest Rose wanted to walk their paths, she would have to accompany each of them in turn. Along the way they would meet two farmers, each with a wry sense of humor, but one much more wry than the other. She would walk for a while with each of them as well.

Each walk would change Fairest Rose. Together they would complete her.

And that is how Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is made.

Recommendations.

2011-06-11T05:00:00.011-05:00

I recently added a short list of recommended blogs to the right side of this page. Only the five blogs with the most recent posts are displayed, in posting order with the most recent one first.

These are the blogs I actually follow so it's not a reflection on any blogs not on this list, some run by friends of mine, except for the fact that it means I don't follow them. I only follow a few, which doesn't mean I don't look at some others from time to time.

The ones I recommend are the ones I read a lot and like a lot. Some of those are run by friends of mine too.

Only two are run by producers and only one of those is a major American whiskey producer, Buffalo Trace (BT). Specifically, I follow Harlen Wheatley's blog. He is BT's Master Distiller. His is the one called "Master Blog."

You might very well wonder why I follow Wheatley's blog and nothing from any other major producer. The best answer I can give you is that if any other producer does one even half as well, I'll consider it. Wheatley doesn't waste my time, a big plus when comparing blogs run by commercial interests. When he posts he has something to say, some actual information to convey.

Buffalo Trace in general, under the leadership of CEO Mark Brown, has a very finely-tuned sense of what whiskey enthusiasts want to know. If I seem to write about them more than I do about other producers, that's why. If others want the same kind of attention, the template is right there for you.

Buffalo Trace Helps Charities Help Themselves.

2011-06-10T05:00:00.005-05:00

One of the unique features of the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, is Warehouse V, the world’s only single barrel bonded aging warehouse. (Photo by yellojkt.) It was built in 1952 and has held various historically-significant barrels over the years.

On December 31, 1999, the new century was dawning as employees at Buffalo Trace gathered to watch the last barrel of the twentieth century roll into Warehouse V.

Now, nearly 12 years later, the Buffalo Trace Millennium Barrel has been removed from Warehouse V, dumped, and 174 beautifully handwritten and individually numbered bottles have been filled. Each Millennium Barrel bottle is packaged in a numbered hardwood showcase box that includes a piece of charred oak stave from the historic barrel. Also included is a brochure that explains the significance of this unique bottle of bourbon.

To do something special with the Millennium Barrel, Buffalo Trace will donate all 174 bottles to charitable organizations across the country to auction off and raise money for their worthwhile causes.

"This was a special barrel of whiskey and we want to do something with the bottles to help those in need,” said Kris Comstock, Buffalo Trace Brand Manager. "We really hope whiskey enthusiasts and collectors will help some deserving non-profit groups raise serious money. These 174 bottles are beautiful and the bourbon tastes amazing. Our goal is to raise $200,000 for charity!"

Charities wishing to apply should go to www.buffalotacemillennium.com for details about how to get one of the Millenium bottles.

This is yet another example of Buffalo Trace going its own way and developing original and unique ways to promote its products.

What Is Whiskey?

2011-06-09T05:00:00.003-05:00

Arguments about whiskey often start, tragically, before anyone has even had a drink. They argue about how to spell it ('whisky' or 'whiskey') and even what it means.

There are a few people who consider 'whiskey' and 'alcohol' to be synonymous, especially when discussing the history of distilled spirits, and to the extent that distilled spirits were almost universally called 'water of life' at first, the different names had more to do with local language than with the type of fermentable substrate used.

The word 'whiskey' is derived from the phrase 'water of life' in Gaelic.

When, however, people began to distinguish between types of aqua vitae, they did so by raw material. That may have been coincidence, but nevertheless 'brandy' came to mean distilled wine and 'whiskey' came to mean distilled beer, and that divide occurred in Europe maybe 500 years ago. 'Rum,' to mean a spirit made from sugar cane, came later.

In all cases, if someone in, say, the West Indies happened to make some spirit from, say, wheat, they might very well call it 'rum,' that term being understood to mean distilled spirit. This is common in the literature, someone writing in the 17th century might mention, "a rum made from wheat."

In context, it's not so much wrong as it is imprecise.

In India today, because of the British colonial influence, they call their local spirit 'whiskey' even though it is made from sugar cane. They even flavor it so it tastes vaguely like scotch. They are unmoved by Western insistence that whiskey must be made from grain and are unwilling to call their whiskey rum.

They have agreed not to call it scotch.

Indian distillers also make what we would consider proper whiskeys, from grain.

Colonialism aside, there is a long tradition of 'whiskey' being largely synonymous with 'distilled spirit' in beer-making cultures. 'Brandy' has been used the same way in wine-making cultures.

The idea that whiskey and brandy must be aged is of fairly recent vintage, about a century and a half, but it has become widely accepted in custom and law.

The fundamental rationale behind regulating the labeling of distilled spirits is that a person shouldn't have to take a course to buy a drink. Fundamentally, when a consumer orders 'whiskey,' he or she should have a pretty good idea what to expect and a pretty good chance of having that expectation realized. So, first and foremost, whiskey should look, taste, and function like whiskey.

The narrower categories such as 'scotch whiskey' or 'bourbon whiskey' branch out from there.

That's pretty much how things are. We're generally well served. But increasing globalization makes it increasingly complicated.

The solution favored by the largest drinks companies is to forget types and focus on brands. That's why Jeremiah Weed (a Diageo product) can be a whiskey, a vodka, a liqueur, and a beer (i.e., flavored malt beverage).

Kentucky Bourbon Festival: To Go Or Not To Go.

2011-06-08T00:46:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again, as people plan their summer vacations a few wonder, "should I go to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival (9/13-18)?"

I went to the KBF the first couple years of its existence, 20 years ago. It was, for the most part, a snore. I didn't go for ten years, until people on straightbourbon.com started to talk about it as a meet up opportunity. That was in 2000 and 2001.

Coming so soon after 9/11, the 2001 event was surreal. Only people who drove could even get there. A couple of distilleries pulled out. But the weather was perfect and the atmosphere was very kind and solicitous. People were being preternaturally nice to each other.

I believe I have attended every year since.

That said, I attend very few official events. I went to the 'gala' once. Awful. I've gone to the Four Roses breakfast several times. It's very good, there's just no point in going to it every year because it's always essentially the same. I usually go to the barrel rolling competition on Saturday morning. It's great.

The only part of the festival that kind of looks like a festival takes place Friday and Saturday on the grounds of Spaulding Hall, spilling over to an adjacent city park. Spaulding Hall holds the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. In front of Spaulding is where all of the participating distilleries have their booths. They sell souvenirs -- t-shirts and such -- no whiskey. There are usually some of the distillers around.

There are also a lot of other booths; craftspeople, community groups, local and not-so-local businesses. Bourbon Barrel Foods, for example, has a booth. They sell this awesome soy sauce aged in used bourbon barrels. The local show car club sets up. The Army is there recruiting. There is a stage with live music. There is a midway with carny rides and carny food.

It's exactly like a thousand other Midwestern community festivals.

One of the worst abominations of the official festival is the "Spirit Garden," a fenced in, shade-free baseball field, exactly like the soccer stadium holding pens that are used when totalitarian governments round up protesters during anti-government demonstrations. You have to buy strips of tickets that you can then use to buy drinks, served in plastic glasses. There's very little seating.

It's how I imagine the bars are in hell.

They also sell Bud Light and more people drink that than bourbon. In another absurdist touch, they absolutely refuse to serve rye whiskey at this or any other official festival event.

But especially if the weather is pleasant, I enjoy hanging out on the 'festival grounds' for a few hours, though not in the Spirit Garden.

In the evening, the informal events crank up and go into the wee hours. They are the highlight of the festival.

Be A Movie Mogul. Support Michael Caplan's "Algren."

2011-06-07T14:56:00.003-05:00

Nelson Algren is a Chicago writer whose work I admire. His Chicago, City On The Make is pretty much the only thing you need read to truly understand the Windy City. His Man With The Golden Arm was the first National Book Award winner. He was part of a romantic triangle with Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. He was a degenerate drinker and gambler. What's not to love?

Michael Caplan is a friend of mine, a Chicago filmmaker who is working on a feature-length Algren documentary. His secret weapon is Art Shay, a Chicago photographer and living legend who was Algren's close friend. Shay took hundreds of photographs of Algren over the years, marvelously capturing Algren's Chicago in the process.

Finally, Kickstarter is a cool web site that helps artists fund artistic projects and makes it easy for people like us to help. Any support level above $10 is gladly accepted.

So check out the sample clip and make a pledge today. Click on the title below the video frame to go to the "Algren" page on the Kickstarter site. You can also watch the clip there.

Great Lakes Tries New Approach To “The Whiskey Problem.”

2011-06-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

Great Lakes Distillery (GLD) is a Milwaukee micro-distillery, located on the edge of the Walkers Point neighborhood just south of downtown. You can see the Harley Museum from there.

Founder Guy Rehorst, distiller Doug MacKenzie, and their team are cool people who have done a great job making interesting products and winning the loyalty of local drinkers.

Like every micro, GLD has wrestled with ‘the whiskey problem,’ namely; whiskey is by definition aged in oak, almost always for years and years. For a variety of reasons, mostly financial, few micros have figured out how to make that happen.

GLD has come up with its own, unique solution called Kinnickinnic Whiskey. The word means ‘mixture’ in the Ojibwe tongue. Specifically, it refers to the mixture of tobacco and other plant materials used for ceremonial smoking. It’s also a common place name in Wisconsin.

GLD’s Kinnickinnic Whiskey, therefore, is a blended whiskey that combines Kentucky straight bourbon with malt whiskey distilled by Great Lakes. The bourbon distiller, though undisclosed, is not another micro. It’s one of the big guys.

"Straight" means the bourbon is at least two years old. They don’t say how old the malt is. Based on the taste, not very.

The best use for these very vegetal, very young whiskeys is in cocktails, where a skillful mixologist can both temper and complement their sharp edges. That’s true in this case as well.

It’s 90° in Chicago today, so I tried a whiskey sour. Excellent! Delicious! Perfectly enjoyable!

I was afraid the whiskey would be overpowering but I stuck to a standard recipe. Next time I’ll probably up the whiskey a little, because it blended so nicely into the drink. I’ll probably also hit it with my usual dash of cherry bitters, which I omitted for fear the whiskey itself would make it bitter enough.

Neat, it’s not so enjoyable. It’s hot with a very strong, white dog flavor. It’s as well made as such a thing can be. There’s just no getting around its youth. To 'Kinnickinnic' it a little more by adding some other ingredients is the key, and at $29 a 750 ml you won’t feel like you’re paying way too much for a mixing whiskey.

No Proust, Just A Mexican Mudslide.

2011-05-31T19:05:00.003-05:00

It is a literary cliché that whenever something triggers a string of memories, you're supposed to reference a certain pastry. I've done it a million times and I'm through. If you are appreciative, thank Chi-Chi's.

I received a press release today from Sazerac about their new Chi-Chi's Skinny Margarita (just in time for summer!). It's only 95 calories per serving, is sweetened with agave nectar, and contains no artificial colors, flavors or added sugars, making it an all-natural product.

I have no interest in this product but the press release got me thinking about several other things.

Such as was Beam crazy to pay real money for the Skinnygirl drinks line? Yes, authentic Skinnygirl comes with brand founder and reality show performer Bethenny Frankel, but the product recipe is so easy to rip off and so is the name.

'Skinny Margarita,' which is perfectly generic and thus can be used by anyone, is just about as good.

I can't decide if the Skinnygirl line has no legs or if they're just very, very thin.

Then I thought about how Mark Brown, president of Sazerac, has his office at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort and how I rarely talk to him about anything except whiskey, so it's easy to forget there's a lot more to Sazerac than bourbon and rye, such as Chi-Chi's, which is a line of pre-mixed cocktails.

Press releases always end with an 'about' paragraph or two. This is for background and is usually not included when the releases are picked up in the media. Sometimes I find them more interesting than the releases. It was, for example, significant when Fortune started to list Knob Creek alongside Jim Beam in their standard 'about' paragraph.

Here's the one from today's Chi-Chi's release. "The Chi Chi’s family includes Original, Gold, Mango, Strawberry, and Skinny Margarita; Strawberry Daiquiri; Long Island Ice Tea; Raspberry Long Island Ice Tea; Pomegranate Martini; Cosmopolitan; Appletini; White Russian; Mojito; Mexican Mudslide; Mai Tai, and Pina Colada. Chi Chi’s is produced and bottled by the Sazerac Company. Sazerac is one of New Orleans’ oldest family owned, privately held companies and has operations in New Orleans, Louisiana; Frankfort, Bardstown, Louisville and Owensboro, Kentucky; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Carson, California; and Baltimore, Maryland. For more information on Sazerac, please visit www.sazerac.com."

I suppose the name 'Mexican Mudslide' could be considered offensive by anyone who has ever been injured or lost property in an actual mudslide in Mexico.

That got me thinking about Chi-Chi's restaurants. The company was based in Louisville when I lived there (1978-1987). I did a little bit of marketing work for them. At the time, Chi-Chi's was being run by an ex-KFC guy, which is also based in Louisville. Louisville was and I guess still is unique for a town its size in having so many headquarters of companies that buy lots of advertising, marketing, PR, and design services, which was good for people like me who do that kind of work.

What's amazing is how successfully the Chi-Chi's brand has survived the restaurant chain's demise. Chi-Chi's was a sit-down chain restaurant that served 'Mexican' food. I use quotes because the menu was Tex-Mex and very Americanized even for that.

According to Wikipedia, the last Chi-Chi's restaurant in the U.S. closed in 2004, but there are a few left in Belgium, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Indonesia and Canada. I also learned that Chi-Chi's corporate parent, which licenses the name to Sazerac and also to Hormel, which makes Chi-Chi's chips, salsa, and other foods, also owns the Tumbleweed restaurant chain.

When I lived in Louisville, Tumbleweed was a one-off, and the best Mexican restaurant in town. I dined and drank there often. It was on Mellwood Avenue between downtown and Zorn Avenue, close to the Fischer Meats plant. (Wikipedia tells me that unit, which became the flagship, was actually #2. The original was across the river in New Albany, Indiana.)

I ate in one of the chain versions once. It did not trigger any memories.

If the press release triggered any other memories, I've since forgotten them.